


Feed the Machine

by AwakeAndAliveSpartan



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, Ward's a half-robot super soldier, pre Hydra Reveal, s1 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 47,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7021360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwakeAndAliveSpartan/pseuds/AwakeAndAliveSpartan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following a major accident, Grant Ward was subjected to a cybernetic experiment in order to save his life. Living his life as a form of a half-robot super soldier, Grant starts to see just who truly cares for him. But as his past comes back to haunt him, can he choose the right side when it comes down to saving what he now loves or following the man that he believed to be his savior?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Human Revolution

It all started with a mission gone completely haywire. A bomb from an unknown location had detonated and had engulfed the surrounding area. The very same area in which Grant Ward had been in. The very same area in which Grant Ward could not escape from before the bomb had detonated.

Grant had been sent in for a kill mission, take down a terrorist leader while the rest of the team surveyed from the safety of the Bus. He didn’t think that his life would completely change that day. All the thought was that he would go in, kill the leader, and go back to the Bus that afternoon. He thought it would be fairly easy, until the bomb came into play.

He hadn’t even detected it before the very last second. He had heard the beep and everything went back following a massive explosion just mere feet from him. SHIELD recovery teams had found him half-dead, an arm missing and the other barely hanging on. It was clear that he wouldn’t make it out alive if they didn’t do something soon. They had managed to stabilize just long enough to evac him to a SHIELD med facility.

But it was clear he would be dead in a matter of hours. The bomb had destroyed far too much of him for him to continue living like how he was. A few medical scientists had a plan. It was risky, but there was a possibility that it could ultimately save him. But it would ultimately change him in the end.

SHIELD had been working on an experimental cybernetics project, one used to help save wounded agents that otherwise would be too far gone to save. It worked to repair and replace vital organs and replace limbs that had been damaged. But it had a low success rate. Either the cybernetics didn’t work or they killed the agent in the end, but they did have a few successes. But Grant didn’t have much life left in him, he would die if they didn’t do something.

The scientist’s consulted Grant’s team, wanting to know if this was something that they wanted, if they wanted to save him or not. Yes, it was completely and utterly risky, but it could possibly get him back in the end. After a long debate, with much protest from Skye (she didn’t want to hurt him any further, even though that really wasn’t a possibility), they ultimately decided to try the experimental process to try and save him. Coulson had said it would either work or it wouldn’t, they truly weren’t harming Grant.

But was this something that Grant truly wanted in the end? Was it inhumane to try and bring him back? Coulson really didn’t think so since he wasn’t dead yet, they were just trying to save him and keep him alive. It wasn’t like they were bringing him back from the dead, Grant still had a chance. And he was so young as well, he didn’t need to die just yet. He had a long life set out in front of him.

Once Coulson had told the scientists that they were allowed to use the experiment on Grant, they worked fast to set everything up. The surgery to try and use the cybernetics to ‘repair’ him would be long and arduous. Internal organs had to be repaired and two full limbs had to be replaced. But ultimately, the cybernetic process fully augmented the patient since most of the body had to be changed in order to support the cybernetics. The patients, the ones that it worked on, usually ended up a lot faster and stronger than the average human being.

The team didn’t know just what they were getting Grant into, they just truly wanted to save him. They didn’t want to see him die, they didn’t want to lose him. And most of all, Skye didn’t want to lose him. Grant had already been in the hospital for two days before the surgeries began, and she had already worried herself sick. There wasn’t moment that her eyes weren’t tinged red from crying. She hadn’t told anyone, but she knew that she loved him. She hadn’t had the chance yet to confess anything to Grant, and now there was like a ninety percent chance that he would die and she would never get to say anything to him. Grant’s injury, if that’s really what you could call it, was affecting her the most.

She just wanted him to live so she could tell him that she did in fact love him.

But there was truly no telling if Grant would actually come out of this or not, or what the cybernetics would do to him in the end. Would they actually work, or would they ultimately kill them. Truly, time was the only thing that could possibly help in this case.

Everyone just hoped that he would live.

* * *

 

 

 

(Several Hours After the Surgery)

Pain radiated through Grant’s body as he struggled to peel his eyes open. Where was he? He didn’t remember much. All he did remember was trying to track down a terrorist leader and then there was a bright flash. Bright flash… Oh God, he had been caught in an explosion.

He found it hard to breathe as his eyes adjusted to the light. His eyes surveyed the room, but he did not even try to get up. His body hurt way too much for him to even attempt to move. As his eyes scanned the room, he found that he was situated in a hospital room, numerous machines hooked up to him. He could feel an oxygen mask weighing down onto his face. Just what had happened to him?

He knew that he had been caught in some kind of explosion, but how was he even alive? He swore that the explosion had been mere feet from him, a blast from that short of a radius would’ve surely killed him. Just how had he survived something like that?

Grant’s throat was beyond dry and he struggled to lick his lips. Another quick survey of the room told him that he was alone. Just where was the team? Wouldn’t they be in here? He knew that at least Skye would be in here, she was usually practically glued to his side.

Or did they think that he was dead? Grant knew that this was SHIELD, mainly because of the eagle logo emblazoned on the side of one of the machines. Was it possible that SHIELD hadn’t told them that he was alive? No, that couldn’t be. They wouldn’t do such a thing. They wouldn’t keep the condition of one of Coulson’s prized agents from him. Something else had to be going on.

He wanted to know just what was going on, he wanted to get out of here. But he was still far too much in pain for him to even try to move. Everything felt heavy, kind of like lead. Especially his arms. God, they didn’t feel right, they felt so wrong to him. Grant struggled to sit up, his vision blurring as a wave of pain wracked his body.  He leaned his head against the wall behind him, taking a sharp breath to even out his breathing. As he moved, a glint of something metal caught his eye.

His line of sight drifted down to his arms and he completely froze at the sight of them. These weren’t his arms. His arms were completely gone and replaced with something else. Replaced with metal.

They were some kind of robotic counterparts, made of some kind of black, sleek metal. Not like they were taken from Iron Man or anything like that, more like some kind of highly advanced Terminator crap. It made him sick to his stomach to look at them. He figured that the explosion had severed them or something, but why replace them with whatever the hell this was?

He slowly brought his, if that’s what you could call them now, hands closer to his face so he could stare at them. He could hear the faint whir of machinery as he moved the fingers.  He didn’t like this, he didn’t like this at all. Just what had SHIELD done to him?

He kept flexing the metallic fingers, staring at the strange machinery that had taken the place of his arms. Little did he know, that wasn’t the only thing SHIELD had done to him. He didn’t know that he had almost died. SHIELD had completely augmented him to save his life. There were cybernetic parts in his chest, head, and various other places that kept him alive and running now. To be honest, Grant wasn’t truly human anymore. More machine than man.  But he didn’t know that and wouldn’t know that for a while.

As he continued to stare at the arms, Grant truly didn’t know what to think. What would the team say? Did they even know about any of this? Did they even know that he was even _alive_? God, he didn’t even want to know right now, he just wanted to know what was going on and what he was now.

“What am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few notes here. Ward's cybernetic arms mainly look like the augmentations from Deus Ex, with a bit of Fullmetal Alchemist thrown in. Hydra will show up in this later on, it's the whole point of this fic. So I really do hope that this does work. Please leave a kudos or drop a comment!


	2. Flesh V. Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye visits the unconscious Grant and Grant wakes up and violently reacts to everything.

Grant eventually fell back asleep sometime later due to the drugs that SHIELD had running in his system. He really didn’t think to how he had an IV attached to him, he didn’t have arms that a needle could be put into. But that was the least of his worries. He had woken up in a SHIELD hospital to find out that his arms had been replaced with metal? And just what else on him could’ve been replaced with metal? He hated to find out.

The pain meds in his system kept him out for several hours, and within this time Skye wandered into his room. She could hardly stand the sight of him. Numerous tubes and wires were connected to him and an oxygen mask hung heavy on his weakened face. His torso was wrapped in heavy gauze and the sounds of beeping filled the air. But the worst sight was his arms. She hated to look at the metal contraptions that had taken the place of his arms.

Skye had alway marveled at Grant’s biceps ever since she met him several months ago. Now they were nothing but cold, hard metal. She knew that the surgery he had gone through was to save his life and his arms couldn’t be saved, well one had already been blown off in the explosion. It was just hard to comprehend the fact that there was machinery inside of Grant that was keeping him alive. He was some kind of cyborg now, he wasn’t even fully human anymore. 

She sighed and pulled up a chair next to his bed, plopping down into it. Taking one of the hands of his cybernetic arms, she looked at his closed eyes. She traced the components of the hand, hearing the soft whir of the individual parts, “You know, Grant, I never got to tell you something.” she began to whisper to him. “And now you’re on Death’s bed and no one will tell me if you’ll survive or not. I never got the chance to tell you how I really feel about you, and now it looks like I never truly will. I don’t know if you’ll wake up or not, and it’s kind of useless for me to admit this even though you’re unconscious. But it kind of lifts a weight off of my shoulders.”

She took a sharp, shaky breath as she placed his hand down, “I’ve liked you for a few months now, Grant. Hell, I think I’ve liked you ever since we first made eye contact. I know that it sounds kind of silly, but it’s the truth.” she continued to explain in a soft, gentle voice. “I don’t know if you ever noticed that or not, you’re kind of gruff.” She shook her head and laid it down onto the fabric next to Grant as tears began to build up in her eyes. 

“Look, I just want you to pull through this and survive, okay? I don’t care that you’re half-robot or whatever now, that doesn’t matter. As long as you’re alive, I’ll be happy. I just want to hear your voice again.” Sobs started to wrack her voice, “Look, Grant, please just wake up. I do want you to survive.” She reached for the gauze covering his chest, feeling the slow and weak workings of his lungs barely move his chest. “Please, for the love of God, wake up.”

* * *

(A Few Hours Later)

 

Grant’s eyes flew open and he struggled against the varying wires and tubes connected to him. Memories came flying back to him: the explosion, the hospital, his arms. God, he wanted out, he wanted out. He started tearing at the wire and tubes, ignoring the stinging pain that came from them as he ripped them from his body. Splatters of blood flew into the air as the wires were ripped from him. He staggered as he fell out of the bed and to the floor, his arms hitting the cold tile with a loud crashing sound.

He coughed, some blood spraying out onto the tile. He’s not meant to be up yet, he’s not supposed to be up for days. But he doesn’t know that. All he knows is that SHIELD turned him into some half-robot freak all against his will and that he wants to get the hell out of here. Grant slowly rose to his feet, bringing his cybernetic arms close to his side. He hated how they felt, they felt so heavy on his shoulders. Why did they do this to him? Why didn’t they just let him die a heroic death on the battlefield? Grant didn’t care about his own life anyway, so it was no loss to him if he died. But SHIELD had turned him into some kind of cybernetic freak in order to save him when he didn’t want to be saved.

Grant lugged himself to the reflective window just across from his bed so he could get a good look at himself. He looked absolutely horrible. Heavy bags hung underneath his eyes and a weak glaze shone in them. Heavy gauze was wrapped tightly around his chest and the arms were a stark contrast to his pale and weakened skin. But they were the only augmentations to his body that he could currently see. That meant if there were anymore, they were all internal. And that thought sickened him even more. He was some kind of cyborg freak all because SHIELD couldn’t bear to lose him. 

Did the team even know that he was like this now, or were they all in on it? He knew that there was no way that Skye would want him like this, she always seemed to care about him. Wait, did they even know that he was alive? Had SHIELD done all of this behind their backs, creating a cybernetic agent out of their dead friend?

Hatred started bubbling up in his chest? Had this been what Garrett had been talking about all along, how SHIELD truly didn’t care for their agents? That they were just cannon fodder? SHIELD had apparently left Garrett to die and now SHIELD had turned him into a freak against his will? Maybe Garrett was right, SHIELD truly didn’t care.

A wail-like moan escaped his lips as he swung a fist straight into the glass of the window. It shattered completely on impact due to the brute force of the cybernetic. He stumbled backwards as shouts could immediately be heard from somewhere outside of the room. His head whipped around as a snarl echoed from his chest, seeing medical agents and a few armed guards coming into view. 

“How the hell is he awake?!” one med agent exclaimed, pointing at him. “He’s not supposed to be awake yet! He’s still healing!”

“Get away from me!” Grant cried, taking another step back. “What do you want from me?! What did you do to me?!”

Another med agent stepped forward with his hands raised, “Look, Agent Ward, we’re not going to hurt you, if that’s what you think.” he began. “I know you’re scared, it’s understandable. There’s several things that we need to explain to you.” He took a step forward towards Grant, “You were caught in an explosion on a mission, it almost killed you. Your arms were gone and most of your internal systems were badly damaged. 

You weren’t going to survive much longer, so we made a choice. Your team didn’t want you to die at all. There was an experiment program that we brought to them, one where we would, well, ‘repair’ you with cybernetic parts. Your arms were replaced and some of your major organs, like your heart and brain, are half cybernetic machinery.” he continued. “We saved your life.”

A muscle twitched in Grant’s face and one of his hands suddenly shot out and grabbed the agent by his neck, “I didn’t ask for this.” he growled. “Maybe I’d rather be dead than be alive. You don’t know what I want!” he screamed, throwing the agent aside into the machines. Before anyone else could react, he sprung forward with alarming speed towards them, punching out several of them and running straight into the hallway. 

He ignored the weakness and pain that was settling into most of his body. The agent said that he wasn’t supposed to be awake yet, so maybe this was his body screaming at him for him to stop. But he didn’t care, he just wanted far away from here. He wanted far from SHIELD. 

He did kind of want to see the team again, but then again they were the ones that agreed to put him through this. So did they truly even care about him? Or maybe they cared so much that they were willing to do anything to save him and keep him alive. He truly didn’t know and really didn’t want to find out anytime soon. 

He soon found a dark hallway to hide in and slumped to the ground, his breathing ragged and heavy. Bringing his knees to his chest, he ran his cybernetic hands through his hair, feeling a massive panic attack coming on. He hardly had them nowadays, but this time was different. His entire life had been turned upside down just because SHIELD was too selfish to let him die in peace. 

He swore that he could hear Skye’s voice within his head, but he couldn’t make out any words. Everything was just too jumbled now. He was some kind of freak and he had to live like this for the rest of his life. All thanks to SHIELD.

“I want out. I don’t wanna be here. I want out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I do hope that you do like this. I know that it's kind of a strange concept, but I think it'll all work out in the end. And don't worry, I'm telling yo this now. Grant's not leaving SHIELD, someone will stop him in the next chapter. Don't worry. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe four or so comments? I'd like to know what you think.)


	3. You're Not a Freak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye finds Grant and convinces him to come back.

As soon as the alarms in the SHIELD hospital rang out, Skye knew just why they were doing so. Something had happened with Grant. He was the only patient in this hospital that was being watched by guards, only because they didn’t know what would happen when he woke up. Grant was a master when it came to combat, so he could normally take out all the guards with ease. But now? Well, Skye didn’t even want to think about what he could do now.

When the scientists in charge of the surgery had explained what they had to do to Grant, it sounded like there wasn’t much human left of him anymore. Most of his vital organs had cybernetics interconnected with them. They said that his heart and brain were half-robotic now because they had been too damaged. They had simply removed the damaged parts and replaced them with their compliant cybernetics. And Grant’s arms now were both robotic counterparts since they both had been destroyed in the explosion. 

The scientists estimated that Grant would now be several times stronger and faster than their most elite agents. And smarter as well due to the cybernetic components of his brain. If anything, Grant was now a half-robotic super soldier. That’s what they made it out to be. But Skye truly didn’t care, she just wanted to find him and make sure that he was okay.

The hospital was pretty big, so Skye didn’t have any clue to where to find him, but she decided she should start around where his room is at since she wasn’t far from there. Skye had to weave through numerous agents to get to the room, which happened to be in utter chaos. With just one glance, she could see that the room was kind of torn apart. Medical equipment laid strewn all across the room and the glass of the window was completely shattered. She knew with a sinking feeling in her stomach that Grant had woken up and had absolutely freaked out. But who wouldn’t?

She tried to approach closer, but an agent in tac gear cut her off. “Sorry, ma'am, but this area is off limits, it’s too dangerous.”

“Too dangerous?” she questioned, crossing her arms. “I’m on Grant’s team for God’s sakes! I know him!”   
“That still doesn’t matter.”

Skye took a breath, “Look, if anything I need to be the one that finds him.” she began. “He’ll react better to seeing me than seeing several armed men coming his way. I know that he will not hurt me. I know that he’s scared, he just needs to see a familiar face.”

“I,” the agent began, but Skye cut him off with a nasty-looking glare. She wasn’t going to let anyone stop her from getting what she wanted in this case. Especially when what she wanted was to find Grant. She cared for him way too much to let other SHIELD agents try and possibly hurt him.

“I will find him.” Skye stated coldly. “I’ll get him calmed down and then I will bring him back here. I know him better than any of you buffoons do.” She didn’t wait for the agent’s response before she stalked off and headed down one of the halls. 

The hall was dim and Skye could faintly tell that there were a few holes in the walls. Now, SHIELD always kept their facilities in pristine shape, so these holes had to be recent. And on closer inspection, she found that the holes looked as though someone had punched through the wall to cause them.  _ “Grant.”  _  she thought.  _ “This had to be him. He’s upset. He’s hurt and probably very confused.”  _ She continued down the hallway, using the holes as a clue to that Grant was somewhere down here. 

She walked for a while before reaching a turn that led to a completely-darkened hallway. Pausing momentarily, she decided to call out Grant’s name, “Grant?” she called, a little loudly. “Are you down here?” Taking another few steps down into the darkness, she tried again, “Grant, it’s me, Skye. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure that you’re alright.”

A loud shuffle-like movement came in response and Skye paused again. She once again took another few steps, trailing her hand down the wall to try and find some kind of lightswitch. “Grant, please tell me if you’re down here. I just want to know if you’re okay or not.”

Her hand eventually hit what seemed to be a set of switches and she only flipped on one, causing a small set of lights in the ceiling to flicker on and illuminate a small patch of the hallway. And to her luck, she could see a figure slumped against the wall in this small patch. With baited breath, she hurried towards the figure, “Grant?” she called again. “Please answer me.”

She was only a few feet away when the figure’s head lifted up and looked towards her. Yep, it was Grant. Well, she had already figured that out by the black cybernetic arms on him. Who else would have those? As she came slightly closer, Skye could see the absolute torment in his eyes. He was in agony. “Grant? Are you okay?” she asked softly, crouching down next to him. 

He turned his head away from her, “How am I supposed to be okay?” he muttered. “What am I supposed to feel when I wake up to find that I’m some kind of cyborg freak?” He gestured to his arms with a nod of his head. “No, I’m not okay.”

“Grant,” Skye began, reaching towards him. But Grant shied away from her, afraid for anyone to see him like this. 

“Get away from me, Skye.” he almost snapped. “I don’t know what I am and I don’t want to hurt you.” He took a sharp and ragged breath and looked towards her, “What did they do to me?” he asked, pain shining in his whiskey-brown eyes. 

Skye reached out again and took one of his hands, “There was a nasty explosion on that mission, you got caught in it. You were gravely injured and they were just trying to save you, Grant. None of us wanted you to die,” she paused again. “Especially me.”

Grant ignored that last part, “Then why turn me into some kind of freak in order to save my life? I’m better off dead than this machine!” he exclaimed, shakily coming to his feet and towering over Skye. “You should’ve let me die.”

Skye took a breath and stood up as well, “Grant, we just wanted to save you. Our only thoughts were to try and save you! What does it matter that you have a few robotic parts keeping you alive? At least you’re still alive to walk around.”

“Do you want to be like this, Skye?” Grant asked quietly. “I don’t. SHIELD is just too damn selfish to let one of their agents go in peace. I’m better off dead.”

“No, you’re not.” Skye snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “None of us wanted you to die! You’re still fairly young! So we tried to save you for God’s sakes, Grant! Stop acting this way! And most of all, I didn’t want you to die! Shouldn’t the fact that I care for you be enough?”

“No, it’s not.” Grant stated. There was a part of him that did take her words in and savored them. Skye didn’t want him to die? And most of all, she  _ cared  _ for him? Somebody actually cared for him? Well, he never had the chance to tell her his feeling for her. He did love her, but he was just too afraid to admit it. And did this mean she loved him too? 

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, “Look, Skye, you don’t know how I feel. Not one bit. I don’t want to be this  _ thing _ .” he continued. “I’d rather be dead than be this thing. Nothing you say can change my mind.”

“And I don’t want you doing something that you’ll ultimately regret, Grant. Look, we just didn’t want to lose you at all. So we took a risk and let the scientists perform the cybernetic surgery on you.” Skye explained. “We just wanted you to survive. And you did, it worked. What does it matter if some of you is cybernetic in nature. Just relish the fact that you’re still alive.”

“Look, I,” Grant began, backing away from her. “I don’t,”

“Grant, please. Don’t act this way. I’m just glad that you’re alive, okay?” Skye asked, giving him a small and caring smile. Yep, she truly did care for him. She didn’t care one bit that a good part of him was robotic in nature. It didn’t change the fact that he was still the man that she loved, even though he didn’t know that. “Please, come back to the room so they can look at you. Everyone’s probably worried sick by now. Please.”

Grant didn’t respond. He just looked down to the ground and clenched his fists, ignoring the soft whine of the cybernetics as they moved. 

Skye came up again and took his hand, “Grant, please. We’ll make sure that you get all the help that you need.” she stated softly. “Just come with me, please.”

Grant looked down to their connected hands, the connection between flesh and metal. Why was she doing this? Just what did she want? But it was clear that she wasn’t going to let him get his wish of death. She wanted him to survive for some reason and he wanted to figure that out. He looked up again to see a smile on her face as she gave his hand a light squeeze. He just couldn’t say no to her, he couldn’t bring himself to.

“Alright, fine.” he mumbled. “Whatever the hell you say.”

Skye’s smile grew even bigger and she turned and started to pull him down the hallway, back towards the room. 

Just what was going on now? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this, I'm not sure about this fic anymore. I know it's kind of strange and it's kind of hard to write for. I've got two others that I'm trying to work on, so this just kind of falls onto the backburner. Do y'all still like this and want this to continue? Keep the comments and kudos coming.


	4. Programming Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As days start to go on, Skye reveals something to Grant in the midst of his pain.

Grant was let out of the hospital and allowed back onto the Bus a few days later. The doctors had figured that his recovery would go the best if he was in a familiar environment around people that truly cared for him. He was slapped with several medications to help with pain and to prevent infection and he was also stuck with a nightmare of a rehab regimen. It would take a few months for him to be back in fighting condition. He wouldn’t be in the field for a while, and that was something that he truly didn’t like.

He felt useless now since he couldn’t be an agent like normal at all. And that only made his mood worse. He had fallen into a deep depression since waking up almost over a week ago. He felt like a freak because of his augmentations, he didn’t feel human anymore. And truly, he couldn’t be considered human now. There was really no term to describe what he was other than a cyborg. And now he hated that term because that was what the doctors had called him.

The first few days back on the Bus hadn’t gone well at all. Grant stayed away from everyone, even Skye. He stayed holed up in his bunk, refusing to come out. Simmons could hardly even get him to take his medicine or get him to eat. Truth be told, Grant wanted to die. He hated being this way and wished that the doctors had of let him die in the hospital. At least it would’ve been a heroic death in the end. But they had to pull him back from the dead all because everyone was too selfish, his words, too go ahead and let him die.

And then there was the fact that he couldn’t sleep at night. He could hardly even sleep a couple of hours without waking to excruciating pain. His screams echoed throughout the Bus, waking everyone else. But no one could get mad at him for it, they all just felt way too bad for him. Simmons had said the pain was due to his nerves still conforming to the cybernetic connections in all of his augmentations. He would be like this for another week or too. His screaming got so bad every night that Simmons had to sedate him in order to calm him down.

Skye would be there right beside him as he fell back into an uneasy sleep. She found that she couldn’t leave him alone; she was afraid that something would happen to him if he was left alone. Even though it was uncomfortable in his bunk since he was so huge, she always ended up falling asleep right next to him. And when Grant woke every morning, he never questioned to why she was there. He just went with it, despite it being a weird thing.

They had never established a relationship, even though he did like her and he was pretty sure that she felt the same way towards him. It was just something unspoken between the two of them. Neither of them really questioned it either, even though Grant did suspect that Skye was getting to the point of truly saying something to him about it.

Grant had been back on the Bus for about a week when he finally had his first day that he felt okay. He still wasn’t great, but he was able to walk around without his entire chest burning. The pain was still there, but it was bearable for the time being. He wore a long-sleeved shirt to try and hide his arms, he was extremely self-conscious about them.  He felt as though everyone was staring at them and he absolutely hated it.

Skye found him in the bar area nursing a bottle of whiskey. She stopped behind him and frowned, “You shouldn’t really be drinking heavy alcohol with all the medication you’re on, Grant.” she commented, grabbing the bar stool next to him and sitting down.

His head lifted up and he looked towards her, a dull light in his eyes, “What does it really matter when I want to be dead?” he asked in a dead tone. He took a long swig of the alcohol, “It numbs the pain.”

Her eyes surveyed the bar and found two empty bottles laying on the counter, “Grant, how much have you had to drink?” she asked quietly.

With a shrug, Grant turned his gaze from her, “I don’t know and I don’t care. I just wanna be drunk to the point where I can’t feel anything, but it’s not happening.” he slurred. He was slightly drunk, but he wasn’t showing that he had downed almost three entire bottles of whiskey. Whatever augmentations had been made to him must’ve given him one hell of an alcohol tolerance. But he still didn’t need to be drinking all of this.

Skye gently reached over and pulled the bottle from his hand, “Grant, please, don’t do this to yourself. You already almost died once, don’t do it again. I don’t think I could handle that again.” she explained lightly.

He looked back towards her with a disproving gaze, “Like I said, maybe I _want_ to die. I don’t want to live like this. You don’t know the hell I’m going through.” he practically hissed. He could hear Garrett’s voice in the back of his mind calling him a freak and saying how much of a weapon he was now. Grant shook his head to get the voice to stop. “I can’t do this.”

“Look, Grant, it may be hard now, but I promise that it’ll get better in time. You’ve just got to get better.” Skye reached out and took his left hand, running a finger over the smooth metal of the prosthetic. “There’s a reason to why you didn’t die, and it just wasn’t the surgery.” she continued. “Maybe this is a second chance of sorts, I don’t know. You’ve gotta figure that out yourself.”

“Then why do you care so much?” he asked, actually not jerking his hand away from her. His expression softened, “Why?” he repeated.

Her face fell and she carefully dropped his hand, “I just didn’t want you to die, that’s all.” she replied. “Do I have to have a reason?”

Grant stood to his feet and towered over her, “Yes, you do.” he said coldly. “There’s gotta be a reason to why you wouldn’t let a man have his death wish. I wanted to die back there. But I feel like you were the main one that vouched for the surgery, weren’t you?”

She gulped, looking up at him, “No, we all vouched, it wasn’t just me. We all wanted to save your life. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? And besides,” she paused slightly, hesitating almost. “I didn’t want you to die with things left unsaid between us.”

He ignored most of what she had said, “You should’ve let me die, Skye! Why the hell do you care so freaking much?! It’s not like I mean anything at all to anyone here! You just didn’t want an agent dying on your watch is all. You really don’t care!” he slammed his fist down onto the bar, and it actually cracked all the way in half due to his brute strength. “Just tell me why you care so damn much.” he hissed, not paying attention to the now-broken bar.

“Maybe it’s because I love you, you dumbass!”

Grant froze up, not noticing that Skye was now standing in front of him. A heavy blush had settled in onto her face as he stared at her blankly. “What?” he asked, his voice barely a croak. “What the hell did you just say?”

Skye gulped and took a step back, “I said it’s because I love you. I know it sounds damn cheesy, but I think it’s the truth.” she explained. “It has been for a while.”

And Grant found his cheeks growing hot with blush, but he tried not to show it because he was still having trouble processing what Skye had just said to him, “Excuse me?” he questioned. “I-I don’t understand at all.”

“Of course you wouldn’t, Robot.” she joked quickly. “I guess love isn’t in your programming. But what I say is the truth, I’m not lying at all. I-I just never had the courage to say anything about it, that’s all.”

Grant’s throat grew dry and he suddenly felt lightheaded for some reason. He couldn’t process the fact that the woman he loved actually loved him as well, despite all that had happened to him. It seemed that she didn’t care that he was now a half-robot freak at all. He continued to stare at her.

“You _love_ me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm so, so, so sorry about the wait on this. I totally forgot about this one as I updated my two others and I never knew what to write. And I know that the ending of this chapter is kind of awry, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with this and trying to figure out how out things will go. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe five or so comments? I'd still like to know what you think!)


	5. Sweet Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant has a nightmare and Skye's the one to show up.

It had been a few days since Skye’s revelation of her love to Grant, and neither had really spoken to one another since then. It was mainly because Grant had no idea of what to say to her in response, so it was extremely awkward when they happened to be near each other. But in reality, Grant did love Skye as well, he just didn’t have any idea to how to reciprocate that towards her. Especially with his given situation.

He was so self-conscious about himself since the surgery that he felt worthless and broken. He didn’t feel worthy of Skye’s love because he felt himself to be less than human. That’s what he believed since half of his body was robotic counterparts. He believed that he was subhuman and didn’t deserve human emotion.

Maybe Skye’s constant cracks about him being the ‘Tin Man’ and ‘T-1000’ were correct, he was just a robot incapable of human emotions. And he felt all of that to be true. He was just the robot. The robotic soldier built to take and follow orders seamlessly. He just wasn’t human anymore.

But the nightmares disproved that. He was capable of fear. He was capable of pain. He would wake up almost in tears because of terrors that he couldn’t remember. He wasn’t supposed to cry, but he did. And the sad thing was, he didn’t know why he was crying.  The nightmares faded as soon as he woke.

And it was the night a few days later when he and Skye truly spoke again, all because of one of Grant’s nightmares.

He woke up screaming, hot tears streaming down his face and falling down onto his sheets. He went to rub at them, the cold metal of his hands stinging against his hot skin. The tears made the metal shine in the low light of the bunk as he drew his legs up against his chest. He could hear Garrett’s voice echo out inside of his head:

_“You know, son, you should blame SHIELD for making you this way. They made you weak and soft. They turned you into a freak against your will all because they were selfish and didn’t want to let you die in peace. They’re pathetic. Now you suffer all because of them and their ‘improvements’. You’re a freak.”_

Grant shook his head and ran his hand through his hair as he tried to block out Garrett’s voice. Of course Garrett was there to mock him. What would the man say if he were here right now? Probably the exact same thing running through Grant’s head. Grant didn’t know why he still continued to praise and follow the man, but he didn’t question it. It was something that he just did.

A knock at his bunk door jerked his attention and he looked to see Skye sliding the door open and stepping in towards him. He blinked and looked away, not wanting to say anything to her at the moment. He didn’t want her seeing him like this.

Skye stopped after shutting the door back and flipped on the small, overhead light above Grant and she paused as she saw the tears glistening on his face. “Grant?” she asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

He remained silent for a moment and then looked at her. He shrugged, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bad dream, that’s all.” he muttered. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Grant, I woke up to you screaming. You better be glad that I think I’m the only one that you woke up.” Skye explained, sitting on the edge of his bed. “And that may be because my bunk is right next to yours.

But, I don’t think you’re okay. You’ve woken up screaming the past few nights. And not because of pain.” she continued. “Something is bothering you.”

“Like I said, Skye, it was just a bad dream. I don’t even remember to what it was. So it’s nothing to worry about.” Grant replied, trying to brush it off. “You don’t have to worry about me so much. Besides, I’m not worth it.”

Skye looked at him and raised an eyebrow, “Is this because of what happened the other day?” she asked, taking one of his hands. “I do worry about you because I care about you, that’s all. I wasn’t lying when I said that I love you. That is the truth. And you’re worth it. Just because you have a few robotic parts means absolutely nothing. That just gives me another reason to call you ‘Robot’.” She smiled at him and traced the metal of his hand.

Grant sighed and pulled his hand back out of Skye’s grasp, “Look, Skye, I guess I’ll admit it now. I-I do like you.” he stammered, looking down to his sheets. “It’s just that all of what happened to me makes things weird now. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Grant, your life was saved by that surgery.” Skye stated, crossing her arms. “And I don’t care if you’re technically half-robot or not. That doesn’t change anything between us at all.” Grant could swear that she was blushing. Hell, he probably was too. “It doesn’t change a single thing. You’re still human. You still have a heart, even if it is cybernetically enhanced. You’re still Grant Ward, right?”

He looked up and a small smile pulled at his lips, “I guess you’re right, Skye. I’m still me, even if there is a few changes.” he stated simply. “It’s just hard on me, that’s all.”

“Of course it’s gonna be hard, Grant. You went through a big change.” Skye began to stand to her feet. “But I know that you’ll get through it, you’re Grant Ward after all, right?”

He nodded slowly, “Yeah, I am. Guess I just need to give it some time is all.” he stated. “It’s just too early for anything to be going well. I’ve still got rehab for several more weeks. And it’s still months until I can go out into the field again. It’ll be a while until everything is as close to normal as it can get.”

Skye smiled, “Now, that’s the spirit.” she practically laughed. “You’ll be fine, just as long as these nightmares don’t get you.” She paused for a moment, “You’ll be okay sleeping, right?” she asked.

“I…” Grant trailed off and looked away. “I don’t know.” he croaked. “It’s bad that I can’t remember them at all, yet they make me wake up screaming and crying. They have to be bad. I’m starting to get to the point where I’m afraid to sleep.”

She bit her lip, “I, I can stay. If you want me to.” she stated. To be honest, she didn’t mind staying in his bunk at all. She just wasn’t going to if Grant didn’t want it.

Grant began to decline Skye’s offer, but he decided against it at the last moment. For some reason, her staying sounded right to him. He didn’t know why. “I guess, if you want. I just don’t know if I can go back to sleep or not.”

Skye couldn’t quite believe that he actually said yes, but she wasn’t going to joke about it. She knew that he wasn’t feeling well right now, so it wasn’t the time for jokes. She just smiled at him and moved back towards the bed.

Grant moved back towards the wall to give Skye some space in the bed. His breath slightly hitched in his chest as she crawled into bed right next to him. This was honestly kind of awkward for him. She reached up and switched off the light, then turned around where her back was facing him.

And honestly, he felt some kind of relief with Skye being right next to him. It eased his anxiety and he felt a little better. But he wasn’t going to say anything about it. He didn’t want to make Skye feel awkward.

Skye scooted a little closer to him, “Good night, Grant.” she muttered, settling in next to him.

Grant’s throat grew a little dry, “Uh, good night.” he replied.

And he swore that he laid there forever before he could fall asleep. Skye fell asleep after a little while, her breathing evened out as she did so. The sound of her breathing was what soothed Grant into sleep. Right before he did actually drift off, he carefully draped an arm around her, hoping that it was okay. He was careful not to accidently crush her or anything as he drew her close to his body.

He buried his face into her hair, breathing in the sweet scent of her shampoo. This truly calmed him, her being right up against him. He smiled softly as he began to relax.

“Goodnight, Skye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm actually updating this pretty fast! It's only because I'm a little stuck with my two others, which I should be trying to work on tomorrow. But I hope that you liked this! Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe 5 or so?)


	6. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant has a few adjustments to his cybernetics and then receives some bad news.

(About a Week Later)

Skye bit her lip in worry as she watched Fitz poke Grant’s right prosthetic with a weird-looking tool that she had never seen before. Apparently it was something the SHIELD engineers had come up with to help calibrate the cybernetic prosthetics that Grant and a few others had. And of course, they taught Fitz how to use it since he would be the one overseeing Grant’s arms. That meant he was the one to make small repairs to them when it came down to it. The bigger stuff and Grant’s internal cybernetics were left up to the engineers and scientists at the bases.

Fitz continued to stick the device in various places on Grant’s arm in silence, only humming a small tune as he did so. According to Grant, the prosthetic hadn’t been feeling right the past few days and he had asked Fitz about it. The young engineer had said something along the lines of a possibility of a weak connection between Grant’s nerve endings and the machinery of the arm. Something that was apparently common in the first few weeks of the body adjusting to the augmentations; Grant had only had his for about three weeks now. Fitz claimed that it could be fixed with a simple calibration of the arm.

“So, what’s wrong with it?” Skye asked, crossing her arms impatiently. Of course she wanted to know what was wrong, it was Grant after all. They were hopelessly in love with one another and any ailment he had bothered her. But no one knew about their step-up in their relationship just yet, even though the most that had come out of it had been Skye in Grant’s bunk every single night for the past week. They had kissed some, but nothing too drastic. Maybe just a peck on Grant’s cheek from Skye.

The young engineer nodded and looked away from the shiny metal of Grant’s arm, “Just what I suspected, the connections are weak.” he replied, poking at something on the arm with the device and opening a small panel. “Won’t take that much to fix.” He paused and looked up to Grant, “But it’s going to hurt like hell. I’m gonna be basically sending a massive shock through all the bloody nerves in your shoulder and such.”

Grant shrugged, “I’ve been shot before, so this is nothing I can’t handle.” he stated, sending a smug smirk towards Skye. He wanted to show that he could stand pain, even though she knew that he really couldn’t. She had been with him the past several nights, and a few of those he had woken up crying in pain. He just liked to tease her.

He only got a roll of the eyes in response.

“Uh, yeah. Apparently this hurts worse than getting shot. It’s what other agents that have a prosthetic have said.” Fitz reiterated, sticking the device into a hole within the slot. “You might wanna have something to bite down on. We don’t need you biting your tongue off. There’s no need for a cybernetic tongue.”

Grant’s face paled as he looked down at the agent, but he remained silent.

“Fitz, don’t tease him like that!” Simmons exclaimed, coming up behind Fitz and smacking him lightly in the back of the head. “You know that’s a sore subject for him!” She handed Grant a towel for him to put between his teeth.

“Just making a joke.”

“Simmons, it’s fine.” Grant said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It doesn’t hurt to joke every now and then, right? Hell, I still let Skye call me ‘T-1000’ and ‘Robot’ when she can. But it’s not like I can stop her or anything. She’ll do it no matter what.”

Skye smirked at him, “Damn right I will.” she joked, making Grant blush. And of course both Fitz _and_ Simmons noticed the blush on the agent’s freckled cheeks, but they weren’t going to say anything. They knew what was going on. But nothing was said because they didn’t want Coulson to know. Coulson was a stickler for the rules after all.

Grant sighed and held up the towel in his left arm, “Just get this over with, Fitz. The sooner it’s over, the sooner I can get out of here.”

“Alright.”

Grant put the towel between his teeth right as Fitz pressed a button on the device. And _oh God,_ he was right. Grant’s entire body seized up as it felt like a bolt of lightning, or two, coursed through his body. The towel fell out of his mouth and he screamed out of series of expletives just to avoid truly screaming. Skye’s eyes widened at Grant’s sailor mouth, she had never hear him cuss that much. Grant’s body relaxed as the pain subsided, leaving a dull ache.

He looked up and panted, “That wasn’t so bad.” he tried to joke between labored breaths. That had been absolute agony.

Fitz pulled aside and nodded at him, “Go ahead, see how it feels.” he suggested. “Tell me if it feels okay or not. You may not be able to feel anything at first due to the residual effects of the calibration.”

Grant swung his arm around, trying to get a feel of it. It did actually feel a little bit better, but he couldn’t tell due to the lingering pain. “I guess it’s okay.” he stated. “Hurts, but does feel a little bit smoother.”

Fitz smiled, “Good. Now try to go rest it. It’s probably not good to try and do your rehab now after the calibration. Rest an hour or two then you’ll be fine.” He turned around to something on one of the tables. Simmons smiled at both Grant and Skye and joined Fitz without another word.

“You alright, big guy?” Skye asked, coming up to Grant as he stood to his feet. She laced her fingers with his left hand, being careful of his right one. She started to pull him out of the lab so Fitzsimmons couldn’t see them. “Didn’t know that you knew that many curse words.”

“What? They just came out.” Grant protested as they walked up the spiraling stairs. “I couldn’t help that. It’s better than just screeching out in pain.” They stopped at the top of the stairs.

“You probably made Coulson piss himself if he heard any of that.” Skye joked, Grant wrapping an arm around her and drawing her close.

“You really think that Coulson is that clean-cut?” Grant asked. “I’ve heard that man swear like a sailor just the other day. It’s actually quite funny believe it or not.”

“I’d like to hear that sometime.” she smirked. “But first, let’s go take a little nap, Grant. Fitz did say to rest your arm.”

“Skye, if we’re both missing at the same time and my bunk is closed, everyone else is going to think that something is going on.” Grant had a worried look on his face. “They don’t know that we’re together yet.”

“It’s a nap, Grant, not sex.” she teased, poking him in his firm chest. “Why would we be having sex in the middle of the damn day?”

Grant blushed and scratched the back of his head, “Uh, I dunno. It’s just something that the others may think.”

“Screw what the others think, I want my nap. I spent two hours this morning training with your ass, I want sleep.”

“Fine, an hour or two won’t hurt.” Grant chuckled, drawing her chin up and bringing her lips to his. He buried a hand in her hair, using his other to draw her close. This went on for what seemed like an eternity to Skye before he pulled away from her.

She looked bewildered and flustered, “Well, that, uh, was…” she trailed off slightly. “A-Amazing.” She honestly didn’t expect that.

Grant smiled and shrugged, turning to face the door that led to the galley. “Of course it was, you were kissing me.”

“Since when did you develop such a big ego?!” Skye exclaimed, following him into the galley.

“I was just joking.”

“Sure you were.” she retorted, rolling her eyes at his back. “Even though your statement was true, it was a little big-headed.”

“Whatever.”

The two walked into the galley to find Coulson standing there waiting for them, his arms crossed. He nodded at them as they came up.

“I assume by the colorful language I heard, you got something done to one of your arms.” he stated, looking Grant’s way.

“Yes, sir. I had the right one calibrated, it wasn’t feeling right.” Grant replied, standing stiffly by Skye. He was afraid that Coulson had heard their little conversation. “But it’s all good now. Fitz just told me to go rest up for a while before returning to my rehab.”

Coulson nodded slowly, “You’ve got about a couple of free hours. We have a visitor that’ll be docking with us soon that’s coming to see you.” he commented. “You have time.”

Grant frowned and briefly looked Skye’s way, “A visitor?” he asked. “Who the hell would be visiting me?”

“Your old SO, Garrett.”

And Grant could’ve sworn that time had frozen around him. It felt as though his entire stomach had turned to ice. Things suddenly weren’t processing right in his head as his skin grew clammy and his face pale.

“I, uh, um…” he trailed off. “Say that again.”

“I said Garrett’s coming to see you. He just wants to see how you’re doing after the surgery and all. He just hasn’t had a chance before now.”

And with that, Grant knew that he was damned.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I was sick a few days with the croup and never felt like writing. But I should have this back on a good schedule now. So a little more to the Skyeward relationship and the one guy that has a hold on Grant's life is about to come in. The action will really start to pick up now. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe five or so comments?)


	7. Save Me From This Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett comes and confronts Grant.

(A Few Hours Later)

Grant stared up at the ceiling of the Bus in anxiety as a thud sounded, signaling that another jet had docked with the massive plane. Garrett was here. Grant had no idea of what Garrett truly wanted, he just knew that the older agent wasn’t here to give him get well wishes. There was something greater to Garrett’s visit and Grant didn’t like it.

He felt a slight pressure on his right hand and looked down to see Skye’s hand there. Looking back up, her found her looking at him with worry. “What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Grant, why are you acting so jumpy?” she asked softly. “It’s just your old SO, not the freaking Devil.”

 _“Maybe that’s the truth. I don’t know.”_ he thought, studying her face. _“I do care for Garrett, I really do. And I do want him to survive whatever the hell is wrong with him, but he really scares me sometimes. And I honestly don’t know what he wants.”_

Grant feigned a smile, “Garrett’s not a problem, Skye. It’s just the fact that I haven’t seen him in a while. That’s all.” he lied straight through his teeth. Both statements weren’t the truth. Garrett was truly the problem here and he had been in contact with Garrett pretty frequently. Just not in the past couple of weeks because of his injury. Garrett probably thought that he was stalling in their plan to spy on Coulson.

Skye raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure? I’ve never seen you this jumpy. The only other time you’ve been like this was after the Berserker Staff.” she stated. “I just want to know that you’re okay is all.”

He nodded slightly, “I’m fine, Skye. Just a little nervous to see him.” he lied once more. He hated to lie to her, but he had to do anything to keep up his cover.

They both turned around as footsteps sounded to see an older man tailed by an African-American man coming into the galley. Coulson came in behind them. The older man came up and stood in front of Grant and Skye. His eyes trailed to their connected hands and Grant could see the disappointment in his eyes.

Coulson broke the silence and cleared his throat, “Skye, I’d like you to meet John Garrett.” he announced, gesturing towards Garrett. “And his current protégé, Antoine Triplett.”

Garrett smiled at Skye, “Nice to meet you.” he stated simply. There was something about his smile and his voice that made Skye shutter.

“Uh, likewise.” Skye replied, studying the strange man. He just had a strange air about him.

The other man, Triplett, nodded towards the both of them and then looked to Grant, “Then you must be Garrett’s first rookie, right?” he asked, giving him a beaming smile.

Grant nodded, but remained silent.

“Trip, this is Grant Ward, one of the best agents you’ll ever meet.” Garrett proclaimed, coming up and clapping Grant on the back. He ignored both the feel of metal and the way that Grant flinched underneath his touch. “They say he’s the best since Romanoff, but I don’t see it.” he joked.

“Very funny, John.” Grant replied back, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. “So, what brings you here?”

“Just wanted to see how my boy is holding up after that injury. Explosion, right? I heard that it blew off one of your arms.” Grant detected insincerity in Garrett’s voice.

“May as well had been both. But I’m doing okay, could be a whole lot better thought.”

Trip looked to Grant, “Both?” he asked. “I’m sorry if I’m asking anything way too personal or uncomfortable.”

Grant shook his head, “You’re fine. It’s okay.” He sighed and pushed up his sleeves to reveal his arms. “The blast blew one off and severally damaged the other to the point where they had to amputate it.” he began to explain. “I’ve also got several other cybernetic implants and supports keeping me alive.”

“Is it strange?” Trip asked, eyes rested on Grant’s prosthetics. “I mean, is it hard to get used to?”

He shrugged, “Sometimes I don’t notice it, most of the time it’s weird. There’s still pain. I…” he trailed off and remained silent.

“Trip, I think it’s probably painful for him to talk about it, okay?” Garrett warned, placing a hand on Trip’s shoulder.

“Sorry, my man. Didn’t mean to intrude.”

“It’s okay.” Grant mumbled. “It’s okay.”

Garrett sighed and looked towards Coulson, “Is there anywhere here where I can talk to Grant in private?” he asked. “There’s a few personal things I want to ask him and it’s better if we’re alone.”

Coulson blinked, “Uh, yeah.” He pointed over his shoulder, “The Cage is back that way. It’s nice and quiet. No one will bother you there.”

“Grant, could you show me the way?” Garrett asked, looking back at Grant.

“Yeah, I can.” Grant replied, his chest tightening. He had no clue to what Garrett wanted, and that scared him. He looked back at Skye and she smiled at him, and he smiled back. He turned around and motioned for Garrett to follow him.

He led Garrett to the Cage, going in and shutting the door behind him. And when he turned around to face the older man, he was met with Garrett’s fist connecting with his stomach.

“What the hell was that out there, son?!” Garrett exclaimed, snarling at him as Grant came up.

“What was what?” Grant asked innocently, not sure of what he meant.

“The way you looked at that girl. I saw you two holding hands. What the hell did I say about making relationships?” he growled.

Grant remained quiet, too afraid to say anything.

Garrett frowned and leaned in close to Grant’s face, “They make you weak.” he spat. “They make you soft. I don’t want my number one protégé getting soft. Especially not now. I got you onto this team so you could figure out how Phil Coulson came back to life, not to make kissy faces with your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Grant flat-out lied. “Skye’s just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Then explain the hand holding.”

“I-“

Grant was cut off as Garrett’s fist connected with his jaw. He knew that it was going to bruise bad. But he couldn’t say anything.

“You can’t, can you?” Garrett teased. “It’s because what I say is the truth, isn’t it?”

Grant gulped and tried to stand tall, “Sir, I…” he trailed off.

Garrett smiled, which wasn’t a pleasant sight, “Oh, it is the truth then. Skye’s your little girlfriend. I didn’t send you onto this team to fall in love. She’s just making you soft.”

“Sir, I’m still doing what you what me to do.” Grant protested. “There has been no leads since you had Coulson kidnapped. Nothing else has come up. I still don’t know anything. I’m trying my best, it’s just that nothing is happening.”

“Sounds like your ‘best’ truly isn’t your best.” Garrett growled, narrowing his eyes at him and approaching him again. “Look, I don’t care that you’re injured. I really don’t. You’re still supposed to be doing what I sent you to do. If anything, SHIELD made you weak.”

“John, I was almost dead!” Grant exclaimed, clenching his fists. “They saved my life!”

“They only saved your life because they still wanted to use you. I was useless to them and they left me to die. For me to bleed to death.” Garrett hissed, poking Grant in the chest. “You’re expendable to them, don’t forget that. And they turned you into some kind of freak in the process. Yes, they made you a hell of a lot stronger, and yes I can definitely use that. But you’re like me. Cyborgs aren’t natural, boy.”

Grant gulped, “Look, I,”

“I don’t want your buts, son.” he cut in, grabbing him by the shirt collar. “They only did this because they still think that they can use you. But you’re weak right now. I know that you can’t go into action for a long time. That’s not good. I know that we’re getting closer to the time of reckoning, Grant. Hydra’s gonna rise up sooner or later and that’s going to blow our cover. You’re gonna have to be prepared to fight. I don’t want you weak for that.

Both your injury and the fact that you have a lover make you weak. You’re gonna have to leave them behind for me, and you’ll have to have the strength to do that.” he explained. “You _are_ still with me, right?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll never leave you behind.”

“Good. Don’t forget who really saved you, boy. And it surely wasn’t SHIELD.” Garrett hissed, pushing past Grant for the door. He was glad that he had disabled all surveillance on the Bus temporary before he had come in. No one would know of their ‘little’ chat

He stopped and leaned into towards Grant’s ear, “Oh, and son, I won’t be here long. I’ll leave tomorrow. But I’ll come back in a couple of weeks to see how your mission is going. I don’t want to see you with that girl then. If I do, I’ll cross her off. Hell, I’ll cross them all off and take Coulson again. Do you understand?”

Grant’s entire body froze. Garrett would _kill_ Skye if he saw him with her again. No, he’ll kill everyone if he was still with Skye when he came back. His head was starting to swim. He loved Skye far too much for him to hurt her. But he couldn’t leave her. He couldn’t. No, he-

“Grant! I said, do you understand?”

Grant blinked and looked up to Garrett’s scowling face, “Yes, sir. I understand.”

Garrett smiled, “Good. I want you to destroy whatever little ‘relationship’ you have with that girl. She’s making you soft, I can already tell. And the Grant Ward I trained isn’t soft.” He turned around and left the room, leaving Grant all to himself.

He found that he couldn’t move. Garret had just threatened the love of his life. It was either break up with Skye or have everyone else on the team killed as consequence. He couldn’t bear to think about either thing. But he was also still loyal to Garrett and couldn’t disappoint him. It was either make Garrett happy and leave Skye or have everyone he cared about die.

And he felt as though he was being torn completely in two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, Grant's got a massive choice here. It's either follow Garrett and leave Skye or stay with Skye and have everyone die. And it's obvious that he doesn't like either option. Or is there a third option that he can choose? Can you guess what that could be? Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe five or so?)


	8. Get Me Out, Get Me Out of Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant's troubles continue.

(Two Days Later)

Grant woke with a start, covered in a cold sweat and his body in an uncontrollable shake. The remnants of a flat-out night terror were lingering on the edges of his mind. He wasn’t quite sure of how it began, but he surely remembered how it ended. He had walked into the galley of the Bus, only to find all of the team dead with bullets lodged in their heads and Garrett standing over them locked into some kind of maniacal laughter. That’s when Grant had awoken with a sudden start.

He groaned in pain and let his head fall back against the wall behind him. His torso around the cybernetics hurt like hell. Even though the shake that had gripped his body was starting to subside, Grant couldn’t keep his hands still as he ran them through his hair. And even in his dreams, Garrett plagued him.

Garrett had left the day before, he really hadn’t stayed long. He only stayed long enough to remind Grant to get back on track and to threaten him if he didn’t. And it was all about Skye. It was either leave her or see everyone around him dead, probably even himself. Neither option was good for him. And the torment caused by trying to figure out how to solve the dilemma made him feel absolutely horrible.

And of course he couldn’t tell anyone what was wrong, that would only out him and Garrett as Hydra. That would completely ruin his and Garrett’s plan, but Grant was starting to get to the point where he no longer cared what happen anymore. He just didn’t want the others getting hurt.

Perhaps Garrett was right, maybe he was weak. Grant just couldn’t help that he did actually care about these people now. He figured that it was the fact that they had risked a lot in order to save him and make sure that he healed. They had all but given up missions in order to make sure that he was comfortable with what was going on.  They had given almost everything up for him.

But then on the other hand, Garrett had practically saved him when he had nothing else going for him. He had pulled Grant out of that darkness and had given him a place in the world. But how was Garrett his savior when he was threatening everything that he cared for. Grant was honestly losing hope for Garrett. Was this ‘mission’ only his destruction?

But what would happen if he told Coulson or someone about Garrett’s true nature? What would a revelation of that caliber do? Would it get Grant arrested and locked up for being a traitor to SHIELD? But Grant was honestly starting to not care about that, just as long as something like that kept Skye and the others safe.

Would it all be worth it? Would it be worth it to expose Garrett and Hydra? But Grant knew that that would be his ultimate downfall in the end. A downfall that had no comeback at all.

Was this all truly worth it?

A hand on Grant’s thigh jerked him out of his thoughts and he could sense Skye starting to sit up next to him. He honestly forgot that she was in the bed with him. In the darkness of his bunk, he could make out Skye turning to look at him.

Skye was wondering why Grant was up so late. She figured that he was in pain or something, but normally he would be screaming or something. Or he would’ve let her know. She could see a faint, blue light glowing in his eyes, some of the cybernetics in his head. The scientists had also put in some optic upgrades as well. There wasn’t a part of him that wasn’t augmented.

“Grant?” she asked softly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” came Grant’s gruff reply. “I’m fine. I just couldn’t sleep. There’s a little bit of pain, that’s all.”

She sighed and reached for the light switch, turning on the small light above them. The light illuminated them and she could see a weak light in Grant’s eyes as he was looking at her, it was obvious that he didn’t feel well.

He weakly smiled at her, “Go back to sleep, Skye. You don’t have to get up for just me. I told you, I’m fine.” he lied through his teeth. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Grant, if you’re in pain, then you need to take something. That kind of pain isn’t going to go away on its own, sweetheart.” she said lightly, tracing one of the places on his bare chest where flesh fused with metal. “Do you want me to go get one of your pills?”

Grant started to shake his head, but Skye’s stern expression stopped him. He did figure that some of his medicine would help him sleep and get his mind off of Garrett for a while. For some reason, he just liked the way the medicine made him feel. It made him feel carefree, like there was absolutely nothing wrong with him at all.

“Yeah, sure.” he sighed, knowing that Skye wouldn’t take no for an answer at all. “One pill will be fine. I just need something to help me get back to sleep.”

Skye smiled at him and slipped out of the bed, standing to her feet, “I’ll be back after a while, Grant. Your pills are in the kitchen, right?”

“Yeah, should be on the counter. Coulson didn’t like the idea of the medicine being in the bunk with me. Guess he thought I may try to overdose or something. I don’t know.” Grant replied wearily.

That was actually the truth. Ever since the surgery, Grant had fallen into a deep depression and had expressed a few times that he wanted to die. He guessed that Coulson took that as him being suicidal and had limited his access to weapons and his medicine. Grant didn’t know it, but the older agent had been trying to find him a therapist that was qualified enough to help with problems of Grant’s caliber. But there was honestly no telling to what a therapist would unearth with Grant at all.

Grant’s issues, even though he himself didn’t know it, went on for miles underneath his skin.

He watched as Skye smiled again and nodded, leaving the bunk and sliding the door shut behind her. Grant honestly didn’t know what he would do without her, either option he had involved him losing her in some way. Leaving her would break her heart, staying would get her and everyone else killed, and outing Garrett would out him as well and Skye could no longer trust him. He couldn’t win in any situation, but he did figure that one where no one died was a better option. And, honestly, he was actually starting to lean more towards the outing Garrett option. It truly did more good than harm, even though Grant would probably lose Skye in the end.

Grant fingered the purple bruise on his stomach, right where Garrett had punched him for what he had seen between him and Skye. How was Garrett any good to him if he only hurt him for anything that he did ‘wrong’. And most things that Grant did ‘wrong’ truly weren’t wrong anyways. How was falling in love with someone that felt the same way towards him wrong? It honestly wasn’t, only Garrett saw it that way. All because it supposedly made someone weak.

And Grant wasn’t sure to why Garrett felt that way, maybe it had to do with how SHIELD abandoned him and left him for dead. Grant couldn’t connect the team with the SHIELD agents that had left Garrett to die. Not everyone was bad like how Garrett made them out to be. This team, no, this SHIELD truly cared for him. Grant didn’t know what SHIELD had done Garrett wrong. And Garrett’s feelings were no reason to betray the team at all. Garrett’s feelings weren’t Grant’s feelings one bit.

But he still felt like he owed Garrett _something_ , but had he truly saved him? Or had Garrett drug Grant into an even deeper hell than he had been in? Grant still couldn’t discern the truth from that. Not at all.

The sound of the door sliding open jerked Grant back to reality and he saw Skye coming back in with a bottle of water in hands. She closed the door and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Here you go, hopefully it’ll make you get to sleep soon.” she stated lightly, handing him a small, white pill and the bottle.

“Thanks.” he replied, opening the water and knocking back the pill. Now, the one pill alone was such a strong dosage, that it worked in practically no time. It had to be strong in order to work with his augmented state.

He sat aside the bottle as Skye climbed back into bed. She looked over at him and leaned towards him, placing a kiss on his cheek, “Now, try to get to sleep, Grant. Hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning.” She reached up and flipped off the lights.

Grant blushed slightly as he sunk back down into the sheets, “Night.” he muttered, feeling Skye press up against his side. He turned over and carefully draped an arm over her, “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” she replied sleepily. “I hope you feel better.”

He mumbled in response, not wanting to say anything. Truthfully, he wasn’t going to feel better in the morning at all. This _pain_ wouldn’t go away for a long time, not until Garrett was somehow dealt with. Grant just couldn’t feel better.

And just how could he feel better when it felt as though he was trapped in hell?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Grant is truly starting to question his loyalty to Garrett since he threatened everything that Grant loves. Can Grant make the right choice in the end, or will he be too afraid to even do anything against Garrett? Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe five or so?)


	9. And What's the Right Team?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant has more questions about his loyalty and Coulson begins to suspect that something is wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of suicidall thoughts.

(Three Days Later)

Grant sat numbly at the couch in the galley, his beloved sniper rifle laid out in scattered parts on the table in front of him. Disassembling and reassembling his rifle was something he found to be sort of therapeutic for him, and it also helped with the minute movements of his fingers and hands. Dexterity with his cybernetics was something that needed to be worked on before he got back into the field. Well, if he did ever get back into the field. Not if Garrett ruined that first.

And this was also the only weapon Coulson allowed Grant to be around. Grant figured that Coulson knew that it was hard to kill yourself with a sniper rifle. But if it did get down to it, Grant would try anything to end his pain. He was tired of suffering, he was tired of the torment that Garrett was putting him through. It was either abandon Skye and still commit horrors under Garrett or watch everything he knew get destroyed and then be killed by Garrett. Grant still honestly didn’t know what to do.

A large part of him was truly starting to realize that this team cared way more for him than Garrett ever did. Garrett just used him, like his own personal weapon. And maybe that’s all Grant was anymore, a weapon. Some cybernetically enhanced weapon that could tear a person in half if he wanted to. Even though that Grant was technically SHIELD’s weapon right now, he would always be Garrett’s no matter what.

But did he even want to be anyone’s weapon anymore?

Grant wasn’t sure of what to do. He never had his own choice. He had always followed some kind of order, no matter if it was from his parents, Christian, Garrett, or SHIELD. Through and through, he _was_ technically a robot, programmed to follow orders without question. But just how good was that programming anymore?

Grant sighed and reached for a part of the rifle, holding it between two fingers and holding it up to the light. He slowly turned it around and studied it, _‘The rifle is just nothing but parts if you think about it. Each part does its own thing, creating the machine, telling it what to do. Am I basically just the rifle now? Made up of nothing but mechanical parts telling me what to do? Am I just a machine?’_ he thought. He sighed again and placed the part in its correct place within the rifle, _‘A machine just made to kill? But who made the machine? SHIELD or Garrett?’_

He let out a frustrated groan and sat aside the rifle, leaning back in the couch, _‘What good is it anymore? I don’t have a good choice, but I can’t abandon anyone here. But I can’t abandon Garrett either. But, honestly, is Garrett even a good choice anymore? I get hurt and almost die, and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t even come to see how I’m doing except to chastise me for falling in love. But this team, no matter how trivial they actually are, threw out life and limb to safe me and make sure that I healed. Why am I throwing everything away for Garrett when he doesn’t even care?_

_It’s either leave Skye or see everyone, even myself, die. There’s no good option. Or I could tell someone. Tell someone about Garrett. He gets arrested and Hydra’s thrown under the bus. I don’t have to live underneath Garrett’s terror and this team is safe. But I’ll get arrested more than likely. I still lose everything. Even Skye. But if everyone’s safe and Garrett’s where he belongs, does it ever matter?_

_But who do I tell? Coulson’s not good enough. It needs to be someone more direct. Hill? No, she doesn’t like me. That won’t work. Fury? It’s possible, but still a long shot. How the hell do I even get near him? I’ll think of something. I still have a week or so. I just want everyone to be okay.”_

Grant looked to the ground, trying not to notice Skye and Coulson standing in the edges of his vision, more than likely talking about him.

And they were actually talking about him. Coulson pulled Skye away from Grant so he couldn’t hear them. Grant more than likely had supersensitive hearing now and could probably hear them if they were any closer.

“Skye,” Coulson began, his voice low. “Has Grant been acting strange lately? I’ve noticed that he’s more depressed, but you’ve spent a lot more time with him the past couple of weeks.”

Skye casted a glance over towards Grant before looking back to Coulson, “I, uh, think so.” she replied. “He seems paranoid and scared, like something bad is going to happen. I thought he was the fearless superspy, I’ve never seen him like this.”

Coulson sighed and nodded slowly, “I think it’s been ever since Garrett left about a week ago. I don’t know if Garrett told him something or what. Now, Garrett’s not the nicest person in the world, I know that. He lets his mouth get the best of him. He may had of said something of a derogatory nature towards Grant about his, well, enhancements.  But he usually just means that as a joke. Nothing like that would’ve spooked Grant. I think there’s something deeper than Garrett going on.”

“Do you… Do you think he’s losing himself?” Skye asked quietly. “I mean, just the other day he mentioned to me that you didn’t like him having his medicine in his bunk because he might try to overdose.”

“Skye, I’ll be honest with you. Grant has been expressing some heavy suicidal thoughts lately. Mainly to me. I haven’t said anything to you because I knew that would scare you. He’s told me that he wants to die and that we should’ve let him die.” Coulson explained the best he could. “I’m afraid that he’s going to act upon those wishes soon. I don’t allow him near weapons. I’m being really careful with the fact that he’s with his rifle. And I don’t allow him to take any of his medicine himself. I get someone else to give it to him. I don’t know what’s bothering him and he won’t talk.”

“And wouldn’t you think I would like to know this?!” Skye exclaimed in a hushed tone. “I could help!”

“Skye, I know just how much Grant means to you. I don’t want you to worry over him.”

“I,”

“Look, I know that you two are together.” Coulson cut in, crossing his arms. “I know you have been for the past couple of weeks. It’s not that hard to see.”

Skye’s face fell and paled in color, “You know?” she asked in a tiny squeak.

“Like I said, it’s not that hard to see. May and Fitzsimmons already know too. No one has said anything since we figured that you were hiding it.  Look, I’m not disappointed or angry with it since it seems to make you two happy, especially Grant.” Coulson quietly explained. “And since you’re technically not an agent or a technical cadet, it doesn’t violate any SHIELD rules. I’m not going to say anything against it.

But I know that you do love him, Skye. And if he’s finally getting past the breaking point with whatever it is that is wrong with him, I don’t want you to worry yourself sick if he doesn’t come back from it.” he continued. “I’m trying to find the perfect psychologist to help him and we’re all trying to help him. But I’m afraid there are things wrong with him that can’t be fixed. And I don’t even know what they could be.”

Skye bit her lip and let her head fall, “Sir, he’s been having nightmares the past few nights. Once I heard him mumbling about not wanting someone to kill us. This was actually last night. I didn’t really think much about it, but it does fit in with his paranoia.”

Coulson’s face fell and he briefly looked towards Grant, who was still working on his rifle, “You don’t think he knows something we don’t, do you?” he asked in a hushed voice. “Do you think someone’s after us and he knows?”

Skye shook her head, “No, Grant would’ve told us for sure. I think his mind is just playing tricks on him, that’s all.” she protested. “He’s sick and we can’t help him.”

“Alright.” Coulson breathed. “But I’m going to keep a close eye on him just to make sure. I don’t know what is going on, but I do not like it one bit. And if you have the chance, which I’m sure that you will, just talk to him. See if you can get anything out of him. You’re probably the best person on the plane for him to talk to right now.”

She nodded numbly and walked off without another word.

Coulson turned around to watch Grant work with his rifle. The older agent knew that something bigger was going on than just Grant’s mental health. Something was most definitely wrong and Grant knew about what it was.

He just hoped that Grant would come forward and say something before it was too late to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you've got Grant starting to go more towards the option of outing Garrett and Coulson knows that something is going on and Grant knows about what it is. It's just a matter of when and if Grant does come forward to say something is all. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe five or so?)


	10. I Don't Know Where I Went Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant finally decides to out Garrett and Hydra.

(A Few Days Later)

 

Grant woke up sometime during the night and found himself unable to go back to sleep. There was just far too much weighing on his mind for him to even relax. For the past few days, he had seriously been contemplating outing Garrett since it was the best option for everyone. It potentially got rid of the menace that was Garrett, protected everyone on the team, and even potentially would be Hydra’s downfall. The only downside was what would happen to him.

Would he just be seen as another sleeper agent? Or would he be seen as a hero by coming forth and preventing a potential disaster? And there was no telling to what the team would think of him. He was on this team to  _ spy  _ on them, mainly Coulson. How would they react once they found that out? Grant truly didn’t know, but at least everyone else would be safe and wouldn’t have a bullet in their head.

Honestly, this option would be better for everyone but him. He was just tired of listening to what Garrett said and following every single order he gave. To Grant, this was a way of telling Garrett to go screw himself. This team truly cared way more for him than Garrett ever did. Garrett only ever used him, even when he swore that Garrett was his savior.

But why had he followed Garrett so blindly? Why had he believed that he was his savior? Grant honestly didn’t know the answer to that himself. It was just like there was a blank space in his mind right where that answer truly needed to be.

Grant was just really starting to lose his faith in Garrett and no longer had the desire to follow the man like he had been. Yes, he still cared for him in a way, but was it truly worth all the pain to continue like this? Grant honestly believed that it truly wasn’t worth it anymore.

But what would happen if this plan went wrong? What would happen if Garrett escaped capture and he found out that it was Grant that outed him? Grant knew that he would get killed, probably in a very painful way. Garrett’s wrath wasn’t something one wanted to invoke, and betraying him like that would completely and utterly unleash it. Grant knew he was a dead man if this went wrong. But there was still a better chance of the team surviving. That’s honestly was all that mattered to Grant now.

He groaned and carefully sat up in bed, trying not to disturb the still-sleeping Skye at all. She didn’t deserve to get dragged into any of this, she really didn’t. Grant honestly believed that he was placing his problems onto the team somehow. He just wished he had died in that explosion and everything would be much better. He wouldn’t be living in pain like this and there wouldn’t be the threat of death by Garrett looming over everyone’s head. They truly wouldn’t be in this mess if he had of died.

But, honestly, Grant could leave Skye like that. At least after outing Garrett and Hydra, he would still be alive. But how much better would it be since Grant would be outing himself as well? Skye would probably see him in a different light and would no longer trust him. This relationship would more than likely fall apart, but at least she would be safe. At least everyone would be safe and Garrett would be dealt with once and for all.

Well, that’s what Grant hoped.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He then looked over to Skye and reached out towards her, running her hair between his fingers, “Skye, I don’t know what will come from this, I honestly don’t.” he whispered softly. “I know you’re not going to like what going to come to light out of this. I’m not a good man, Skye, I never have been. At least I’m truly trying something good here, I think.But things honestly aren’t going to be the same after this. You may hate me, hell, I may even be dead once all of this is said and done.”

Grant reached out and ran a gentle finger over her cheek, “I’m so sorry for what you’ll find out, but I have to do this. It’s the best for everyone. I just don’t want anyone to die. Hopefully Garrett will be behind bars and Hydra will be broken down. Just, please, don’t give up on me after this is all over.” he continued. 

As if it were a response, Skye groaned softly in her sleep and nuzzled closer to his leg. He smiled softly and ran his fingers through her hair once more.

“I do love you, Skye. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything more than I love you.” he whispered. “It’s just that I have to do this. I’m so, so sorry.”

* * *

 

(Sometime the Next Day)

 

Grant took a sharp breath as he stood outside of Coulson’s office door. His right hand hovered over the door as he hesitated to knock. He was so completely nervous about this that he was actually shaking slightly, something he hardly ever did. And honestly, he wasn’t really telling Coulson what he had to truly say. Grant wanted to speak directly to Director Fury himself.

Even though he did trust Coulson, he really wasn’t comfortable with spilling the bean about Hydra to him. He’d rather tell the Director himself about it, but Coulson was the one that he had to talk to about getting to Fury. And he had met Fury before and Fury was familiar with Grant’s ‘legacy’ with SHIELD, so it would probably be easy for him to go talk to him. It was best to go to Fury directly about something this big.

He took another sharp breath and rapped lightly on the door, the metal of his hand clinging against the metal of the door. A few seconds of silence passed before he heard Coulson say ‘come in’. His breath hitched in his chest as he opened the door and made his way inside. Coulson frowned at him as he came to stand in front of his desk.

“Grant?” he asked, setting down the file that was in his hand. “Is there something wrong?”

“I… I guess that you can say that.” Grant stammered, fooling with his hands. 

Coulson sensed Grant’s anxiety, “Is there something wrong with your cybernetics? Have you checked with Fitz?” he questioned.

Grant shook his head, “No, sir, it’s not directly about me. Well, it’s technically about me, but it’s not about my cybernetics or my health.” he answered lightly. “It’s… It’s something much, much bigger than that.”

Coulson frowned again. If Grant thought that something was a problem, it was usually a pretty big problem. So whatever was concerning him must be a big deal. “Then what is it?” he asked. “You can tell me whatever it is.”

Grant shook his head again, “I don’t feel comfortable with saying anything about it here.” he admitted. “I-It can’t be here.”

“Then where can you talk about it?” Coulson pressured, standing to his feet. “Grant, usually if you think something is a problem, it ends up being something pretty big. If it concerns the team, you need to tell me.”

“I want to talk to Fury.”

Coulson’s face fell and went a little pale, “ _ Fury _ ? You want to talk to Nick Fury of all people? Grant, the Director doesn’t hear all matters. This has to be something really serious for him to listen.”

“Just trust me, Coulson. I know that Fury will want to know this.” Grant begged, a practical pleading look in his eyes. “Try to get me a meeting with him, please. I don’t have much longer to keep this a secret.”

Coulson honestly had no idea what Grant was talking about, but Grant was acting like this was the end of the world, whatever it was. Truly, Fury would be pretty easy to get in contact with since they were in really good terms with one another. Coulson just hoped that whatever Grant wanted to come clean about was truly worth it.

He nodded, “Fine, I’ll see what I can do, Grant. I’ll let you know if he does want to talk to you. Just tell me one thing, though. Is it a matter of SHIELD security?” he asked.

“Yeah, you can definitely say that. But I’m not saying anything else here, I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Grant, I trust your judgements, I really do. But I’m honestly worried about this. You usually talk to me if it’s big enough of a problem. You don’t talk when it’s something that truly worries you.” Coulson said softly. “I’m worried about you, I truly am.”

“Just get me Fury and then you’ll know everything, I swear.”

Coulson nodded once more, “Okay, I’ll see what I can do, but I am not promising you anything. Just tell me that this information will all be worthwhile.”

Grant nodded numbly, “Yes, sir. It is.”

“I really hope so.”

And Coulson truly couldn’t anticipate the caliber of what Grant was to reveal, no one could. It was just a matter of it could be stopped or not once Grant outed everything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Grant will only reveal the information to Director Fury himself. It's just a matter to if Fury is willing to listen or not. Let's hope that he is. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (maybe five or so comments?)


	11. The Only Thing Worse Than a Traitor..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant comes clean to Fury and Coulson.

It took a few days to Coulson to work on getting Grant that meeting with Fury. There were a lot of protocols and rules to follow in order to schedule a meeting with the Director. But luckily, Coulson and Fury were pretty much buddy-buddy with one another, so it didn’t take much between the two of them to get the meeting set up.

Still, Fury was confused to why Grant Ward of all people wanted to talk to him. Grant was pretty much a flawless agent by SHIELD standards. SHIELD never had a problem with him and Fury saw him as one of the most loyal and one of the strongest agents they had. So Fury had no reason to question the reasoning behind this meeting, it did worry him that an agent like Grant found something so bad  that he wanted to only tell him about it.

And the others did question why they were going to a high-profile SHIELD base (they weren’t going to the Helicarrier). Coulson would exactly tell them why they were going other than that he had a meeting with a few higher-ups. He wouldn’t even tell May the truth. Grant didn’t want anyone to know what was going on just yet and he dreaded the moment when everyone knew the truth. The moment when they all knew that he was truly Hydra.

But was he really Hydra when all he followed was Garrett’s orders? And Garrett truly didn’t believe in Hydra’s beliefs, so they really weren’t true followers. Garrett was just using them as a source to find his way to making himself live longer. But, still, Grant was Hydra by association. And that’s all SHIELD would probably see.

Grant just hoped that since he was coming forth with all of this information, they would be willing to go easy on him. He just didn’t want his life to be ruined by the fact that he was actually trying to do the right thing here. Honestly, he didn’t even know what the hell he was doing anymore.

And his anxiety grew sky-high on the day they landed at the SHIELD base. Skye was completely worried about him and he wouldn’t talk at all to her. And she especially grew even more worried when he disappeared around the time Coulson left to go ‘talk to the higher-ups’. She was starting to think that something was going on with him. But, truly, she had no idea to what was really going on and she couldn’t even begin to guess what it was.

Meanwhile, Coulson led Grant through the hallways of the SHIELD base towards where Fury said to meet him. And he could tell that the cyborg agent was completely scared, so it truly had to be something huge that he wanted to reveal to Fury. Coulson just hoped that Grant wouldn’t freak out or anything if something happened to go wrong. Grant was prone to that recently.

After a few minutes of walking, they reached the room where Fury was, which was being guarded by two massive agents. Grant eyed them warily as they approached, Coulson showing his badge to them. He then nudged Grant for him to do the same. Grant blinked and started to dig in his jacket for his badge, unaware of the guards’ eyes wandering to the gleaming metal of his hands. But they didn’t say anything about it, even as he flashed his badge towards them.

They nodded and allowed Coulson and Grant into the room, where of which they were met by Fury himself as they approached the center of the room. The Director’s eye scanned the both of them, mainly Grant, as they came to stand in front of him.

“Coulson.” Fury stated, giving the man a curt nod. He looked towards Grant, “Agent Ward.”

The two both nodded back at Fury, even though Grant’s was a little more shaky than Coulson’s.

Fury’s eye trailed to the metal of Grant’s hands, “I heard about the accident.” he commented. “How are you with the rehab?”

Grant swallowed the lump that had formed within his throat, “Ah, uh, it’s going pretty well.” he stuttered. “Still a lot of pain, but my arms are working a whole lot better.” he answered. “But I’m a lot better than I was.”

Fury nodded, “Good.” He looked briefly towards Coulson before looking back towards Grant, “I understand that you wanted to talk to me, correct? Coulson here says that you would only talk directly to me about what it was. It’s strange for an agent of your caliber to want to come to be about something, so I figured it was something pretty dire.” He paused for a bit, “So, what is it?”

Coulson looked at Grant, seeing the younger agent’s eyes shrink in fear and a slight glaze start to coat them. It was obvious that whatever Grant had to say absolutely terrified him. He was starting to think that Grant didn’t have the courage to reveal whatever it was.

Now, Grant wasn’t a man that was easy to scare. He was normally stone-faced and stoic when it came to dire situations. But by how he was acting now, Coulson knew that whatever information Grant had to reveal was huge and was probably putting his own life at risk somehow. There was just no telling to how

“Grant,” Coulson began quietly, trying not to upset him in any way. “Are you okay? You don’t get scared like this. Hell, you never get scared. Are you okay with talking to Fury. Do you want me to go?”

Grant almost immediately shook his head, “No, stay. You need to hear this too.” he stated sharply. “Just give me a minute, okay?”

Fury exchanged a worried glance with Coulson. He never heard of Grant being afraid of something. This was actually starting to worry him some. If whatever it was scared Grant Ward of all people, it had to be _bad_.  He took a breath, “Take your time, Ward. But you are going to have to say something, at least. This meeting can’t be for nothing. So, what is the problem?” he asked.

What seemed like minutes passed before Grant took a sharp breath and finally spoke. “Hydra.” That’s all that he said.

Fury’s face completely fell, “ _Hydra?_ ” he asked. “Hydra?”

“As in the World War Two, Red Skull, fought _Captain America_ Hydra? That Hydra?” Coulson asked, voice full of disbelief. “There’s no way. Hydra’s been gone for seventy years.”

“Coulson’s right, Ward. Hydra fell when Johann Smidt died.” Fury continued, looking at Grant with concern. “They haven’t been a problem for a long time now. So what do you mean by Hydra’s the problem?”

“H-Hydra was never gone.” Grant stammered, clenching his fists by his side. “They’ve been inside SHIELD ever since SHIELD was created. They’re just there, waiting for the right time to strike. And I think that’s soon.”

Both Coulson and Fury looked at Grant with complete disbelief. They couldn’t believe any of what Grant was saying. It was hard to believe that Hydra was apparently all in SHIELD’s ranks somehow. But they knew that Grant couldn’t make something of this caliber up at all, so it _had_ to be real. It all had to be real.

“Agent Ward,” Fury began, caution in his voice. There was anger starting to build up in him due to the fact that there were apparently traitors all within his organization. And he was really starting to suspect that the agent, who was supposed to be one of the best, standing right in front of him was one of those traitors. “How the hell do you know any of this?”

Grant’s mouth went completely dry and he swore that he felt as though he was floating. He knew that he was going to pass out soon, so he had to say something. And it didn’t help that it felt as though both Coulson and Fury’s eyes were drilling into him. He’d never been so scared in his life, even in his childhood.

“Garrett.” he said, stumbling over his answer.

“Garrett?” Fury questioned, crossing his arms. “As in _John Garrett_? Are you saying that Agent Garrett of all people is Hydra?”

Grant’s head automatically nodded yes, but he didn’t say anything.

“Shit.” Coulson spat. “And we were friends for a long time. You think you know someone…” he trailed off and looked to the ground, not sure of what else to say anymore. He wasn't even sure if Grant's words were really the truth or not.

“Agent Ward, is there anyone else you know that’s Hydra?” Fury asked. “If this is real, we need to know who’s who.”

“Me.” Grant croaked, his entire body starting to shake. He had went and revealed the one thing that he should’ve kept completely secret. Now he was fearing for his life.

“ _What?!_ ” both Coulson and Fury exclaimed, glaring at Grant for answers. Nothing was making sense right now. Nothing at all.

“I’m Hydra.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go, Grant reveals the truth. Next chapter will be his explanation and him trying to make up for it by saying what he can. But how will they react once they know Grant's true position on the team? Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Maybe five or so comments?)


	12. Of Traitors and Fools, Of Beggars and Thieves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant comes clean about it all, causing Fury and Coulson to worry.

Coulson looked as though he was about ready to blow a fuse once the words left Grant’s mouth. “What?!” he exclaimed, slowly approaching the younger agent. “Why the hell would you be so?! And right under my fucking nose at that too!”

Grant shrunk under Coulson’s screams. Truly, he hadn’t been prepared for Coulson’s wrath at all. He had been hoping that the man would at least let him explain himself before screaming at him. He hated people screaming at him. “Coulson, please.” he begged. “At least let me explain.” His voice was full of fear.

A vein began to pop out in Coulson’s forehead, “Why the hell would I let you explain?! I’ve got all the explaination I-”

“Coulson!” Fury snapped, cutting Coulson right off. The Director slowly turned to look at him, “If Agent Ward wants to try and explain, let him explain. There’s a reason to why he’s coming forward of his own free will to tell us about Hydra. I want to know why. Save your rash judgements until later.” He turned back towards Grant and nodded, “Now, Agent Ward, you can explain. But you better convince me that you’re not going to stab us all in the backs.”

Grant shakily nodded in response, “L-Like I said, Garrett’s Hydra. I follow him and do whatever he says. I guess that makes me Hydra by default. I-I don’t believe in their ideals or anything, Garrett doesn’t either.” he began to explain. “But what I say is the truth, we are Hydra.”

“Then why do you follow Garrett?” Fury asked sternly. “If you’re coming to us now about this, something must’ve happened between you two.”

“I thought that I owed Garrett everything. I thought I had to follow every order he gave. I was so young and didn’t know what to do. I was just a kid…” Grant trailed off and didn’t continue.

Fury frowned. Kid? How had Garrett known Grant as a kid? Garrett wasn’t assigned to him until he was out of the Academy. “Wait?  _ Kid? _ Ward, just how old were you when you met Garrett?”

With a gulp, Grant tried to explain further, “I was just fifteen. I just had been thrown into juvie on charges of arson and, uh, attempted murder.”

Both Fury and Coulson looked at each other.They had never heard of this. Yes, Coulson had heard about the house fire back in 1998, but didn’t know that it had been Grant’s doing. The Wards had spun it as an accident to keep the fact that the young Grant was practically a criminal.

“Is that when Garrett came?” Coulson asked, voice barely a whisper. 

Grant nodded, “He came after that first day. He had known about me through someone at the military school I was at. The one I ran away from. He had heard about a kid with great hand-eye coordination and wanted me. But he came in the guise of SHIELD, offering me a way. Of course, I took it. I had nowhere else to go.”

Coulson had never heard of such. Garrett had taken in a scared fifteen-year-old Grant? That just seemed so wrong on so many levels. “Then what did he do?”

“He helped me out for a bit before dropping me out in the middle of the woods for five years. Told me it was training for SHIELD. So I could get into the Academy. Left me with nothing but a gun and a dog to keep me company.”

Now, nothing was really making sense. “Then why did you stay there? Why didn’t you run?” Coulson asked impatiently. 

“I don’t know. Garrett promised that he was coming back. I guess I was just too afraid to run off. I just waited.”

“And for five years? He left you there for five damn years and you didn’t get a hint at all that he was bad news?” Fury questioned, crossing his arms. 

“By that point he had promised me so much that I wanted, I couldn’t throw that all away. And when he did finally come back, I thought that I owed him everything. I don’t know why.” Grant’s voice had grown dull and he was still shaking. “I was just glad that he had gotten me away from my family. They were looking to try me as an adult. Garrett got me away from spending years in jail. I thought that he saved me. I’m not so sure about that now.”

“What happened between then and now?”

“Garrett got me into the Academy, where he finally told me about Hydra. I saw helping Hydra as helping Garrett, even though he was just merely using them. I saw no wrong in it. As long as Garrett was happy, I was happy.” Grant answered. “Once in SHIELD, I worked for both SHIELD and Garrett. I did whatever both told me to do. Even up to recently.”

Coulson raised an eyebrow, “Recently?”

Grant gulped and looked towards Coulson, “You didn’t know this, but Garrett’s the true reason to why I’m on your team. You see, he’s dying. Some kind of accident in the middle of a mission. He’s got a metal prosthetic in his side keeping him alive, but it’s failing. He wants to find a way to save himself.”

Coulson’s face fell, “He wants to know how I came back to life.” he answered for Grant, his anger rising again. “You were spying on us.”

“You could call it that. He wanted me to figure out what brought you back so he could see if he could use it. But I got nowhere. Never found anything. That’s why Garrett’s so mad now, among some other things.”

“Then why turn against him now?” Fury questioned, making sure that Coulson wouldn’t lash out at the younger agent. “After all of this time?”

“A few weeks ago Garrett came to the Bus under the guise of seeing how I was doing. But he was really there to see how my mission was going since we hadn’t talked in awhile.” Grant continued, blindly playing with his hands. “And… And he saw something that he didn’t like.”

“And what was that?” Coulson almost snapped, not sure of how to feel about the agent anymore. “Surely couldn’t be anything on my plane.”

“It was me and Skye.” 

Fury blinked and looked towards Coulson, “Skye? As in that ‘consultant’ hacker you took in a few months ago?” he asked, frowning.

Coulson nodded, “Yes. As of recently, Ward and Skye have started a relationship together.” he explained. “It came out of the incident and Ward’s rehab, I believe.”

“Garrett always told me that relationships were a weakness. He didn’t like that I was with Skye and not focusing on the mission he gave me.” Grant continued, picking at the material of his pants. “He pulled me aside, punched me, and lectured me on it. He didn’t like it one bit.”

“Hold on, he  _ punched  _ you?” Fury asked in disbelief. “Why the hell would he do something like that?”

Grant shrugged, “I don’t know. He did that whenever I did something he didn’t like. Sometimes it would be more than punches.” There was a lost and confused tone to his voice, like he didn’t really understand what Fury was asking him at all.

Fury blinked once more and looked towards Coulson before looking back to Grant, “So he basically beat the shit out of you to correct your behavior?” he asked lightly.

“I don’t see the problem with that. I was always the one mucking up.”

With a brisk sigh, Fury ran a hand down his face, “Ward, that’s not a good thing at all.” He paused, noting Grant’s confusion, and decided to move onto another topic. The supposed abuse afflicted onto Grant by Garrett was a topic for later at the moment. “What did Garrett want out of you when he pulled you aside?” he asked.

“He wanted me to end my relationship with Skye. Thought it was making me weak. Said if I didn’t do so by the time he made it back to the Bus, he’d kill everyone.” Grant answered, shying away from Fury and Coulson’s gazes once more. “I-I didn’t know what to do.”

“So why come forward with all of this?” Fury questioned. “I’m not mad at you, Ward. The fact that you did come forward tells me that there’s way more to you. But if you were so loyal to Garrett, why have you turned on him like you have?”

Grant shrugged once more, “I don’t know. It’s just that that confrontation made me realize that he didn’t care for me. While the team moved Heaven and Earth to help me after the surgery, Garrett only came to mock me and beat the shit out of me.” He paused and swallowed the lump in his throat, “I can’t let him control me anymore. I don’t want him telling me what to do. I still love Skye, but I don’t want anyone getting killed.”

“Ward, do you realize if all of this is true, you’ve done SHIELD a big favor. If we can take Hydra out before they do strike, we can prevent a massive catastrophe.” Fury continued. “You may have done a good thing. Garrett won’t be around much longer to hurt you anymore.”

“P-Please get him.” Grant stammered, backing away. “If he finds out I did this, he’ll kill me.”

“We’ll keep this among higher-ups. Like me and Coulson.” Fury paused briefly. “Can I trust Hill?”

Grant nodded.

“How about Hand?”

Grant nodded again, “And May as well, if that helps. I honestly don’t know that many Hydra agents, but I do know a few. But, please, keep Garrett away from me.” he begged. “He’ll find out regardless.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“You’re not going to put me in jail, are you?”

Fury shook his head, “No, we’re not. Well, we’re going to have to keep close eyes on you, that’s just protocol. But it sounds like you don’t need to be in SHIELD for a while until things do calm down.” he explained. 

Coulson frowned and looked at Fury, “What do you mean?” he asked. “Like a safehouse or something?”

“Exactly. If this is all true, Ward doesn’t need to be in SHIELD until Hydra’s cleared up. We find him a remote safehouse, have SHIELD agents that we trust monitor him and make sure that he’s okay. We don’t need Garrett or Hydra coming after him.”

“Do we tell my team?”

Fury thought for a second, “You may as well.” he responded. “They do deserve to know. But they need to understand that Ward isn’t going to hurt him. He’s the one that needs protection more than anything. They may be able to help.”

Coulson nodded, but remained silent.

Fury turned back towards Grant, “Ward, none of us are going to hurt you at all. I’m glad that you came forward with this. There are a few more things I do want to ask you. Mainly the identities of other Hydra moles and any other information you can give us. Then we’ll work on getting you somewhere safe.” he said softly.

“The team isn’t going to like me anymore.” Grant almost whimpered. He was truly afraid that Skye would hate him after this.

“I’ll talk to them along with Coulson and explain the situation. Hopefully they’ll understand then.” Fury replied, studying the man’s expression. It was clear that Grant was completely afraid. And he also had a strong feeling that Grant had several underlying mental issues from whatever Garrett (and his family) had done to him. What Grant had described to him almost sounded like flatout brainwashing. It made his stomach churn.

Grant didn’t say anything anymore. He just looked to the ground and ignored everything around him. 

Fury quickly pulled Coulson aside, “It’s obvious that whatever Garrett did to him has him messed up.” he whispered. “It kind of sounds like he brainwashed the kid in a way. Through conditioning. He needs help. But we’ve got to get him to a safe place first.”

“Do I take him back to the Bus?” Coulson whispered back.

“For the time being. I’ll work with a few others on getting Ward somewhere, I’ll let you know when it’s ready.” Fury began to explain in a hushed voice. “I honestly don’t know what’s going to come out of this. There’s no telling to how many of my agents are actually Hydra moles. But I’ll work with Grant today on getting some of that.”

“What do we do now?”

Fury looked towards the cowering Grant, pity filling his stomach. It was clear that Garrett had truly screwed him over. He truly wasn’t the fearless agent that everyone thought he was. 

“We take care of him first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you go! Grant's explanation makes Fury and Coulson truly realize just how messed up the younger agent is. That he never had done anything of his own free will. And they're going to try and get him somewhere safe before Garrett finds him again. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (Please drop a comment! I'd like to know what you really do think!)


	13. A Road That Left Me Hollow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson tries to talk to Grant.

(Sometime Later)

 

Coulson found Grant slumped over in a chair in the corner of the room that Fury was using as a temporary office. The older agent and the Director had been talking about what to do with Grant and what to do about Hydra. It was obvious that Grant came first in this case. Something had to be done before the cyborg agent suffered a complete mental breakdown or something.

Now, Coulson was still wary of him because of the revelation. But numerous statements from Fury led him to believe that Grant never had truly acted upon his own free will. Garrett control almost every aspect of his life, and now that he was rejecting that authority he was starting to slowly lose himself.

Grant didn’t know what to do without following an order. It was practically sheer luck that he was able to come out and confess everything all on his own. But, truly, there was no telling to what would happen to Grant after everything was all said and done. Someone with that much outside control on their life shouldn’t even be able to function on their own once that control was stripped away. 

In all honesty, Grant was now pretty much a robot without the programming to tell him what to do. Garrett was the master who inputted the programming into Grant and told him what to do and how to do it. And now that Grant had rebelled against his master, that programming was gone. Coulson was afraid that Grant would now lose himself all because he no longer had any clue to what to do.

The older agent approached Grant with complete and utter caution, making sure not to startle him in any way whatsoever. He gently sat himself down into the chair near him, “Grant?” he softly called out, hoping that Grant would respond in some way. “Are you okay?”

Grant numbly looked up at Coulson, his eyes drilling holes into the older man. His eyes were devoid of their usual light, the only light in them being the blue color of the optic cybernetics deep within. He quickly looked back down and remained silent.

Coulson noticed a faint tremor to Grant’s frame and immediately understood that he was still afraid. It took a lot to scare the specialist, so Coulson knew that he was currently going through hell. Grant was now fearing for his life and the sake of the relationships that he had built. If the whole situation wasn’t explained correctly to the team, and more importantly Skye, they would all get the wrong idea of him and would potentially hate him.

Taking a long and deep breath, Coulson slowly nodded even though Grant wasn’t even looking at him, “Grant, Fury and I will try our best to keep Garrett away from you.” he said quietly. “Even if that means getting you out of SHIELD for a while until he’s gone. We can’t afford to lose you to a psychopath like that.”

Grant remained quiet for a while before he slowly looked up again and shook his head, “That’s not the only thing I’m worried about, Coulson.” he croaked. “I may be scared that Garrett will be soon out for my head, but I’m scared about the team. I know that I’ve dragged you all into a dangerous place.”

“Grant, by the sounds of it, Garrett wouldn’t of had left us alone no matter what. It’s not your fault. He wants me for God’s sakes. He’s already had me kidnapped, you told me that it was him earlier. That means that he’s the Clairvoyant, he’s been our enemy this whole entire time.” He paused, “But you already knew that.”

“You’re disappointed in me, aren’t you?” Grant asked quietly, looking towards the ground and squeezing the arms of the chair with his hands. “I’ve known everything this whole time. I could’ve prevented a whole lot.”

“Yes, I’m disappointed that you didn’t come to us earlier about this, but by the sounds of it you couldn’t. If Garrett had that much of a hold on you, I understand to why you never came forward.” Coulson stated lightly. “You never thought what you were doing was wrong. If it benefitted Garrett, it benefited you. But at least you came forward now, it sounds as though we don’t have much time.”

Grant looked up once more, “I don’t know how much longer we have until Hydra rises.”he commented. “Garrett never told me. He just told me that it was soon and that I should work faster on finding out just how the hell you came back.”

Coulson shuttered as the memories of the true TAHITI came rushing back, “Trust me, he doesn’t want to know.” he said. “But it won’t help him at all. Let’s just say it only works on the dead, not the dying, I think.”

“He won’t take that as an answer.”

“Garrett’s always been pretty stubborn.” Coulson continued, eyes resting on the metal of Grant’s arms. “He never took no for an answer.”

“Then he won’t like you keeping me away from him.” Grant stated darkly, curling his hands into gleaming fists. “He’ll fight back. He’ll find a way to make me suffer all because I took a stand. And that will probably get everyone killed. He now knows how much you all mean to me, especially Skye. He’ll make you all suffer just so he can see me suffer.”

Coulson’s breath hitched in his chest. God, he was really starting to feel bad for Grant. He had no clue to just how much Garrett controlled him. Even one step out of line for Grant would mean a world of pain for the poor kid. Garrett was truly a ruthless bastard sure enough. To twist and morph a poor, defenseless kid like he did is truly a cruel act. And Coulson had no idea that Garrett was that kind of person.

“We’ll try our best to keep him away. Fury’s thinking of placing you in a safehouse monitored by loyal SHIELD agents. We’ll work on taking Garrett down before he gets to you. It sounds like he needs you, not us. So the key thing here is to keep him away from you.” Coulson explained slowly, hoping that this was good enough for Grant.

Grant drew a ragged breath and there were honest to God tears starting to build-up in his whiskey-brown eyes, “Can Skye come as well?” he asked quietly.

Coulson shrugged, “I don’t see how that would be a problem. You definitely don’t need to truly be alone. I assume it’ll be okay assuming that she does agree to go with you.”

“Yeah, if she doesn’t hate me after all of this.”

“Grant, look, I know you do love her. And I know that she loves you as well. I see how this would put a damper on things. Fury and I will try our best to explain things to them. If they can see everything in a good light, then maybe they won’t think all that differently of you.” Coulson explained. “I’ve already contacted May and everyone else should be here within the next two hours. Fury and I will do most of the talking, but you’ll have to explain some things yourself. We can’t explain everything for you.”

Grant hesitantly nodded in response, but didn’t respond. Coulson could tell that the younger agent was starting to shut down and didn’t want to talk. It would be a God-given miracle that he would even say a single word when the others came later. Coulson was just really hoping that the others would listen. He still wasn’t sure of how he himself felt about Grant, but he knew that the agent wasn’t deserving of hate. He needed help.

Coulson reached out and placed a hand on one of Grant’s cold metal ones. He frowned as Grant flinched and shied away from Coulson. The older agent took this as a sign of trauma from whatever the hell it was that Garrett had done to him. And there was truly no telling to what hell Garrett had put Grant through over the past sixteen years. 

With a slight sigh, Coulson stood from his chair and decided to give Grant some space. He truly needed it right now. Grant was now fearing that everyone would hate him once everything was explained. All throughout his life, he never had anyone. Now that he had someone that loved him and multiple friends, he didn’t want to ever let go of that. Garrett had lied. Relationships didn’t make you weak, they made you stronger in the very end. It gave you people that supported you and stood you up. And that’s what Grant always truly needed.

_ “Don’t worry, Grant. I’ll see that this all turns out right. And I’ll be the one to personally sock Garrett in the damn face for doing this to you.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! Sorry for the wait. I just started college and haven't had the time to write. So updates may take a little longer now. But I'll still try to be frequent with them. But I hoped that you enjoyed! Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	14. It's Nothing and Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is revealed to the team.

(A Couple of Hours Later)  


When the rest of the team arrived for the meeting that Fury had put together, Skye was the first one in the room. Well, more like she came running into the room and headed straight towards Grant.  Even though he had only been gone half of a day, Skye completely missed him. She had immediately thrown her arms around him, almost sending him into a panic.

Grant was hesitant to wrap his own arms around her, knowing of what she was about to find out about him. How would she react to the fact that he had basically been their enemy this whole entire time? Grant had a bad feeling it wouldn’t be how he hoped it would go. He hoped that she would see that he was trying everything to turn away from Garrett and Hydra and then would still accept him for who he was.

He just faked a sincere smile and managed to draw her close, “Jesus, Skye. We’ve only been apart for a few hours.” he tried to joke. “It’s not like I’ve been gone for months or something.”

Skye smiled and looked up to him, not noting the flat-out worry shining deep within his eyes, “Look, you’ve been acting strange for the past couple of weeks, Grant.” she began. “Now you’re suddenly meeting with the Director of all people and now he wants to talk to us. Something’s going on, so I’m worried about you. Of course I’m going to act like this when you’ve been gone for a few hours.”

Grant laughed sadly and shook his head, leaning down and gently kissing the top of Skye’s head, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Well, I guess that I am.” he muttered. “I’m not so sure about myself anymore.”

With a frown, Skye pulled away from him and looked up, “What the hell are you talking about, Grant?” she asked sternly. “What’s going on here? Why is Fury of all people even wanting to talk to us? What’s wrong?”

“You’ll… You’ll find out soon enough.” Grant admitted, looking down to his boots in practical shame. “But I don’t know if you’ll like what comes out of this or not.”

Skye pursed her lips, “What am I not going to like?” she asked softly. “Grant, what’s going on with you?”

Grant swallowed the dry lump that was forming in his throat. He looked around seeing the others eying him nervously, “Look, Skye, I’ll admit this now. I’m not a good man. I never have been at all.” he admitted. Pain shone clearly in his eyes.

“What are you talking about? Yes you are. If you weren’t, I’d sure as hell wouldn’t be dating you.”

Grant’s face grew completely pale and his stomach lurched violently. That wasn’t the answer he was hoping for. “Then you really aren’t going to like what’s about to be said.” It almost looked as though he was on the verge of tears, and he hardly ever cried. And Skye honestly had no clue to what was even going on.

He shook his head and walked off, without even waiting for Skye to respond. It felt as though he was about to throw up and pass out. He’d never been so scared in his entire life. His entire relationship with the team was on the line, and it all depended on what Fury, and him, was able to explain.

Skye watched with worry as Grant slowly walked his way over to the massive conference table and slunk down in one of the chairs. All of this honestly scared her. She had no idea to what was going on with him. He never acted this way, he never acted this scared. So something big was going on, and Skye was afraid to find out the truth to what it was.

After a few minutes, Fury called them all over to the table to sit down. Skye made her way to the chair right next to Grant and sat down, but Grant paid no attention to her whatsoever. It seemed as though he was in some kind of trance-like state and wasn’t really paying attention to anything around him. Skye bit her lip and turned to face the Director as he cleared his throat.

“Now, I bet that you’re all wondering to why Coulson and I wanted you all to come here to sit down and talk.” he began, standing behind the chair meant for him. “I know that it’s strange for the Director to talk to a small team such as this, but this does involve you since it involves Agent Ward. Well, truly, it involves the entirety of SHIELD.”

Skye casted a glance towards Fitzsimmons, who just looked flat-out lost. What involved the entirety of SHIELD that involved Grant? Something wasn’t right here at all.

May was the first to speak for all of them, “Director, what’s going on here?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. “What’s going on with Ward?”

Fury paused for a minute, casting glances towards both Coulson and Grant. He received a nod back from Coulson, but not Grant. It seemed as though the younger agent was completely frozen. He sighed and slowly began to explain everything that Grant had revealed to them, not holding back any punches. And as he went further into his explanation, the Director could see the color drain from everyone’s faces. There was no telling to what they were thinking. There was no telling to what they now thought of Grant. And everyone was quiet once Fury was finished.

“Look, I am not seeking any form of punishment for Ward. If he was willing to come forward with all of this information, then that tells me that we can trust him. He’s scared more than anything else.” Fury continued. “We’ll monitor him for a while just to make sure of things, but that’s about it.”

Skye gulped and looked towards Grant with a scared expression. He had been right, she didn’t like what she had heard. She had no idea that this was who Grant really was. But it sounded like he was betraying Garrett and Hydra to try and protect them. She couldn’t make heads or tails of things.

“Then why is Garrett after us?” Simmons asked. “Why the bloody hell would he send Ward to spy on us?”

Coulson took a breath and stood up, “Garrett’s dying. He wanted to know just how the hell I came back to life. So he got Grant on the team to figure out how so he could take it for himself. If anything, Garrett was controlling him basically. If he didn’t do what Garrett said, he’d get the shit beat out of him. We don’t think what Grant was doing was of his own free will at all.” he explained. “It’s hard to process, but we don’t think that Grant’s the enemy here. Yes, it’s hard to believe that he truly was never on our side, but I think he is now.

If he’s willing to pretty much risk his life and expose everything to keep us safe, then he’s not the enemy. Garrett is. And if he finds out about what Grant’s done, he’s going to come after him.” he continued. “He’ll try to kill him.”

Fury nodded, “That’s why we’re going to try to move Agent Ward into a safe house guarded by SHIELD agents we can trust. We’ll work with him from there on getting whatever information about Hydra he knows and getting him any kind of help that he needs.” he added in. “It’s about to be a long and hard road because we have no clue to who’s Hydra and who’s not. At least I can trust you guys. Ward says that Hill and Hand are good as well.”

“So what’s going to happen now?” Fitz asked crossing his arms. “What happens to us?”

“You’ll all help me with identifying possible Hydra moles.” Fury answered. “The first step is to get Grant to that safe house.” He looked to see that Grant had disappeared out of the room, which didn’t surprise him one bit. He sighed and looked over to Skye, “He asked if you could come with him. I know that he’s afraid and he doesn’t want to be alone. But I also know that what was revealed today is a little much to handle, so I don’t know what you’re thinking right now.”

Skye remained quiet, not sure of what to say. She knew that Grant was still head over heels with her, but she honestly didn’t know to how she felt about him now. It kind of felt as though she never really knew him. But if he was risking everything to protect them, especially her, then there was no way that he was really evil. Honestly, she needed to think about it some more.

She shrugged, “I’ll think about it.” she muttered.

“Look, I know that this is a lot to take in right now, but I ask that you don’t give up on Ward. He really needs support and help right now. It sounds as though Garrett really screwed him up.” Fury continued, taking a breath. “He came forward with all of this information, and if it all is truly the truth, then he singlehandedly saved SHIELD. There’s no telling to what would’ve happened if Hydra had the chance to rise up like they were going to.”

And, truly, no one knew what to think. Their minds were all really on Grant and the fact that he had been technically working for Hydra this entire time, but it sounded as though he wasn’t evil at all. He was just lost and needed a lot of help.

He just needed to be guided in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the team now knows about Grant. And more of their reactions will be shown in the next chapter. This was merely Fury explaining things and Skye's reaction. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	15. What Is Underneath?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye confronts Grant.

When Fury dismissed the meeting a few minutes later, Skye was the first one to rush out of the room. Despite everything, she still wanted to talk to Grant. She wanted to know whether or not he still truly loved her. Fury’s word wasn’t enough to make her believe that Grant was a good man, she had to hear it from Grant Ward himself.

She found him in an empty hallway not too far from the meeting room that they had been in. Grant was slumped against the wall, knees to his chest and his head hung low in defeat. Skye knew that he was probably suffering right now. By what Fury had said, Grant had practically destroyed everything that he had known to protect her and the team. Of course he was suffering, he had given up something that had meant so much to him for a major part of his life.

Approaching slowly, Skye softly called out his name. “Grant?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

As she got closer, Grant wearily picked his head up and looked at her with dulled-out eyes. His eyes were completely bloodshot and tears were still streaming down his face. He had been crying. Grant Ward never cried, so Skye knew that he was in absolute agony right now.

“I didn’t think that you would come back.” he croaked, looking back towards the ground. “Why would you come back to a monster like me?”

Skye crouched down, not sure of what to say to the man. He wasn’t a monster. Yes, he had done some bad things all because a monster had told him to do so. But that didn’t make him a monster, it just made him broken.  She was still wary of him, but Fury had convinced her that there was more to Grant Ward than the Hydra sleeper.  The Hydra sleeper was now gone, completely erased by a man who had no concept of self-identity anymore. Grant Ward was now a man in need of dire help, before either Garrett claimed his life or he claimed his own life.

“You’re not a monster, Grant.” Skye began softly, sitting down next to him. “Yes, you’ve done some bad things. But it sounds like Garrett forced you do to them.”

“He really didn’t force me to do them. I followed his orders because I thought his way was the right way. I didn’t know any better.”

“By the way how Fury explained it, it sounds like Garrett pretty much had brainwashed you or something. It’s hard to believe that something like that could’ve happened to you. Hell, it’s hard to believe that you were never really on our side.” Skye continued. “But it sounds like you couldn’t help it at all.”

Grant didn’t respond.

Skye pursed her lips, “Grant, I’m not mad at you. I can be mad at you if you’re suffering this much because you chose us over that bastard.” She paused, taking a slight breath before continuing. “I just want to ask you one question though.”

He looked up and blinked at her, not asking what the question was.

“You are on our side, right?” she asked. “Where do your loyalties stand now?”

Grant blinked again and slowly shook his head, “Honestly, I don’t know. I never really cared about SHIELD, mainly because I truly never worked for them. I’m not loyal to Garrett anymore. I guess I can say that I’m loyal to you and the team, but the only thing keeping me here is you. The only reason to why I outed Garrett and Hydra is you. He threatened to kill you, Skye. I couldn’t live with that at all. I didn’t want him to kill the one woman that I love.” he explained. “I don’t even really want to stay in SHIELD anymore. I’m tired of it all.”

Skye frowned, “What do you mean?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t want to be SHIELD’s cyborg at all. I just want to be me, whoever the hell that really is. I’m saying that once all of this is said and done, I may leave SHIELD for good. Find somewhere to settle down and live a life that doesn’t involve guns and violence. I’ve got too much blood on my hands, Skye. It’s time to stop adding to it.”

Grant looked down and sighed, “I’m thirty-one years old, Skye. I really haven’t done anything in my life because SHIELD doesn’t count. I’d actually like to forget that any of it happened.” He tapped the concrete floor with a metallic finger, “I’m just tired, Skye. I’m tired of lying. I’m tired of killing. I just want to rest for once.”

And Skye could genuinely tell that Grant was completely exhausted. She reached out and grabbed one of his cold, metal hands, “That sounds like it may be best for you, Grant. I know that you’re sick. SHIELD isn’t a good place for you anymore.”

“I know that Fury wants to get me help.” Grant answered, scooting closer to Skye and leaning up against her. “But I don’t think that it’s going to do any good for me. I’m too tired. I’m tired of trying. And Garrett’ll probably catch me before I can do anything. A safe house isn’t going to work.”

“Look, Grant, we’re all going to try our best to keep you safe. I’ll go to the safe house with you. We’ll make sure that Garrett never touches you again and he ends up buried six feet under.”

Grant looked at Skye, “You’ll actually go with me?” he asked in disbelief. “You’ll still stay?”

A smile pulled at Skye’s lips and she reached out and ran a gentle hand down Grant’s scruff-covered cheek, “Like I said, I’m not mad at you, Grant.” she answered. “It’s still hard to process, but you can’t be the bad guy if you’re risking everything to protect us. There may be some trust issues between us for a while, I’m telling you that now, but that doesn’t change the fact that I still love you.”

And Grant actually gave Skye a genuine smile as he wrapped his cybernetic arms around her and pulled her close, “Thank you for still giving me a chance, Skye.” he said softly. “I thought that everyone would’ve given up on me. I thought that they would abandon me and leave me to suffer.”

“Grant, you don’t deserve to suffer. You need all the help that you can get.” Skye whispered, smiling as Grant’s lips ghosted her cheek. Yeah, there was no way that this man was evil at all. He was definitely broken and had been led down a horrible path, but he wasn’t evil at all.

Grant smiled again, but remained silent as he pulled Skye closer. He still felt horrible and still didn’t want to confront the rest of the team quite yet. He just wanted to spend time with Skye.

“Are we going to get up off of the floor?” Skye asked quietly.

“Not yet, I don’t want to see the others quite yet.”

Skye sighed and leaned her head against Grant’s firm chest as if she were already trying to protect him from everything.

“Well, this will do for now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that it's been a while, but college has really caught up to me. I'll try to get my two other fics updated over the rest of the weekend, but I'm not promising anything. But, at least here Skye still is giving Grant a chance and hasn't given up on him. That's good. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	16. Within the Sound of Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye has some thoughts after Grant's first therapy session.

Soon after Skye had confronted Grant about everything, Fury had had the cyborg agent moved to a room within the base. The Director had decided that it wasn’t safe for Grant to return to the Bus until the whole thing with Garrett and Hydra had been dealt with. Grant was to stay at the base until Fury could find him an appropriate safe house far from any SHIELD base. And Skye had agreed to stay with him every step of the way, which was good in every aspect for Grant.

Fury already knew that Grant couldn’t be left alone at all. He could see the depression starting to shine in the younger agent’s eyes. Grant had made a major decision and had abandoned the one man that he thought meant everything to him for the longest time. And now that he had denounced Garrett, Grant was starting to unravel. He had depended on Garrett’s guidance for so long, Grant wasn’t sure to whether or not he could operate on his own free will at all. Obeying commands had been driven into him for so many years; it would be hard for Grant to ween off of that and start to make decisions for himself. He already had a decent start though. He had already made the decision all on his own to save Skye and the team. But he still had a long way to go until he was fully self-functioning.

Skye had helped him settle into his, well their, temporary room. She and Fitzsimmons had helped move all of Grant’s belongings from the Bus to the room; Skye had to go back for her stuff later. Grant had refused to talk to Fitzsimmons again. He felt ashamed for what he had revealed. And most of all, he thought that they hated him now. He couldn’t quite process the fact at the moment that more people than just Skye had forgiven him. Fitzsimmons had realized just how screwed-up Grant was from all that had happened to him. They knew that he wasn’t evil. Now they just knew that he was slowly starting to unravel at the seams.

It had only been about a day since Grant and Skye had moved into the new room, but Grant had already had about three panic attacks. One had gotten so bad that Skye had to call for a med agent to come and sedate him. Skye was so surprised that Grant had started to crumble so fast. But had he already been crumbling before the accident? If Grant had been hiding behind a mask the whole entire time, there was no telling to what he was truly experiencing behind said mask.

At the moment, Grant was currently asleep. He had already seen a therapist that morning and the session had left him completely broken down and exhausted. His therapist had never seen a case such as him. Grant’s problems went on for basically miles; it was almost as though there was no end to them.

And Grant had already been diagnosed with a few different problems. PTSD and clinical depression had been marked down right off the bat. There were also obvious signs of anxiety and mental trauma. His therapist had also noted a few signs of Stockholm syndrome, but it wasn’t that strong. She had figured that if Grant had rejected Garrett’s influence over him, then that was actually starting to break up. But that really didn’t help him in this case.

Grant’s therapist had talked to Skye and had told her what she had found. She had told Skye to watch Grant and make sure that he didn’t try to hurt himself; it was very likely that he would soon be marked as suicidal. Skye needed to be caring and gentle with him, mainly to show that there was someone that loved him despite all of his flaws. Grant needed that self-assurance now; there were some things that medicine could not help.

Skye sighed as she stood at the foot of their bed, watching Grant as he slept peacefully. Sleep was about the only time he was calm and not panicking, even though nightmares were already starting to plague him. She figured that it wouldn’t be long until Grant stopped sleeping. And medicine really didn’t help him because of his augmented biology. Most drugs burned straight through him since his metabolism worked several times faster than the average humans. The medicine he had been given to help his anxiety was a very strong dosage itself.

Grant had been asleep for about two hours now. He had come back into the room with tears streaming down his face and a defeated look gleaming in his deadened eyes. Skye really didn’t want to know what the therapist had made him dig up; all she knew was what she had been told, and that had been Grant’s diagnosis.

Her eyes drifted to Grant’s clenched metallic fists. Even in his sleep, he seemed like he was prepared for some kind of fight. Grant believed that Garrett would find him at any time, and that fear had seeped into his sleep already.

Skye found it so hard to believe that one man had so much control over Grant’s life for fifteen years. But she kind of understood how it had happened. Garrett had offered Grant a way when the kid had been completely lost after his family had abandoned him. Of course Grant took that opportunity. What kid in his position wouldn’t? Grant just had no way of knowing what would come out of that offer. He had no idea of the years of abuse and brainwashing that would stem straight from it. No one could see what Garrett would try to warp Grant into.

She sucked in a sharp breath and decided to slip into the bed, right next to Grant. She wiggled her way into his metallic arms and smiled as Grant let out a sigh. Her presence always comforted him, even in his sleep. Grant unconsciously shifted around to allow Skye to press up against him. She smiled again when his arms tightened around her and he settled back down.

Yes, she still loved him. His revelation hadn’t changed any of that at all. It had only made her realize just how much suffering Grant had gone through and that he was still suffering now. No one man deserved to go through all of that. Well, maybe Garrett did. But was Garrett truly human if he had been so cruel to another human being? Skye believed that Garrett deserved to pay for what he had done to Grant, but she just wasn’t sure to how.

 _‘Don’t worry, Grant.’_ she thought. _‘We’ll get Garrett before he can find you again. You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of that. And I know that Coulson, Fury, and everyone else will work to ensure that you’ll be okay. Garrett isn’t a problem anymore, I promise that.’_

And as if Grant had heard her thoughts in his sleep, he groaned and subconsciously pressed his body closer to hers. Skye smiled once again and allowed herself to close her eyes as she laid in Grant’s embrace. In this moment, it felt as though nothing would go wrong again. And she truly hoped that. She didn’t want anything to tear them apart and break Grant down.

But nothing was ever that simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I know that it's kind of short, but it still reveals a lot. Grant can't return to the Bus, he's afraid to see the others, and he's been diagnosed with a lot of mental issues. And don't forget, Garrett's still out there. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	17. And Can You Hear Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant and Skye still haven't left yet.

(A Couple of Days Later)

Grant silently watched Skye as she worked on something on her laptop. She was hunched over the little desk that sat in the corner of the bedroom, which was standard for all personal rooms at the base. Now, Grant couldn’t quite remember just what Skye was working on, his recent mental break and all of his meds had made his mind grow quite fuzzy. He just watched her quietly as he sat on the edge of the king-sized bed. 

It had only been about three days since Grant’s revelation, but he hadn’t uttered a single word to her since then. Skye had been the only one doing the talking in the room, mainly to try and break the silence. She always hoped that Grant would at least utter one word, but he never did so. There was truly no telling to what was going on inside of Grant’s head, but Skye didn’t want to know. Apparently only his therapist knew a few things, since she was the only one he actually talked to.

Skye figured that he didn’t want to talk to her because of the shame he felt for what he revealed. But no matter how many times Skye told him that none of it was his fault and he should be blaming Garrett, Grant just couldn’t forgive himself. His broken mind just couldn’t process the fact that he had practically been brainwashed for fifteen years. 

After a while, Skye sighed and turned from the laptop, her eyes resting on Grant. She studied his current look. She noted that he was in need of a haircut since his bangs were falling onto his forehead. He also needed to shave his mess of a beard, but Skye wasn’t about to trust him with sharp objects anytime soon. Even though his arms weren’t an option, she knew that he would find some other way to take his life if he wanted to. 

Skye also made the note of how his normally-bright and whiskey-brown eyes were dull and lifeless. He looked so miserable. Skye wished that she could just scoop him up and take him somewhere safe, but she couldn’t do that at the moment. Fury had to give them the all-clear before they left for whatever safehouse they were supposed to go to. And Skye wished that it would come already, mainly for Grant’s sake.

She knew that Grant feared that Garrett would come at any second to kill him. And it really wasn’t a matter of it, but when. Garrett would exact his revenge sooner or later, it was only a matter of time. He would be furious that his ‘protege’ betrayed him like how he did. And it wouldn’t matter if Grant was suffering from a mental breakdown or not. Garrett would just see that as one more reason to kill him. It would just be another weakness in the madman’s book. 

Skye sighed once more and smiled slightly as Grant cocked his head in response. Even though Grant wouldn’t talk, he still had his ways of communicating with her. Some of which Skye found just plain cute. “What?” she asked. “I can’t sigh?”

Grant just blinked in response to her.

“I’ve been working for the past two hours, Grant.” she tried to answer, standing up from her chair. “Of course I’m gonna sigh about it.”

Grant’s eyes flickered to the laptop, as though he was trying to ask what she had been working on.

Skye looked back towards her computer, “It’s nothing much. Fury just asked me to look into a few things before we leave for the safehouse, whenever the hell that is.” she stated. “And, no, it doesn’t involve you. Yes, it involves Hydra, but it doesn’t involve you. If that’s what you’re worried about.”

She walked over to the foot of the bed and sat down right next to him, trying to pull him close. She winced as the metal of his left arm suddenly jabbed her in the side “Look, I’m sure that we’ll get out of here soon. I really don’t know what’s taking Fury so long, but it’ll probably be within the next couple of days.”

Grant still didn’t say anything, he just laid his head up against her shoulder. He took one of his hands and began to play with Skye’s shirt.

Now, Skye felt so bad for Grant. He was no longer the fearless agent that he had been. His breakdown had reduced him to just merely a shell. All of his actions were only a result of what Skye told him to do. She had to remind him to do everything. Things from taking his medicine to things such as eating. Skye was devastated to see that he had fallen this far this fast.

She turned her head slightly and reached out to brush the hair off of his forehead, “You need a haircut, don’t you think?” she asked quietly. “That beard definitely needs to go too.”

Grant shrugged in response, which was still good enough for Skye. She honestly had no idea to when he would actually talked again, Hopefully it would be when they got far away from SHIELD and from Garrett. Perhaps Grant was just far too afraid now to talk. He just needed to be in a safer place.

“Maybe we can work on that tonight before we go to bed, alright?” she asked. “I know that your fine motor movements or whatnot in your hands still aren’t good, so it may be hard for you to use scissors.” That was half of the truth.

He nodded slightly in response.

“Good.” Skye looked briefly to the clock, which told her it was just about one in the afternoon. “Do you want to try and get something to eat from the kitchen?” she asked. “You need to take your meds and you can’t do so on an empty stomach. I assure you there’ll be no one there to hurt you. This is a highly-secure base. If there’s anyone in there, it’s an agent that doesn’t know who you are. They’re not going to judge you.”

Grant didn’t do anything for a good while, but he did eventually nod and stood to his feet. 

Skye smiled up at him at pulled herself to her feet as well, “Good. We won’t stay long. We’ll just grab a quick bite and we’ll head back here.” she stated, taking one of his metal hands. She led him out of the room and into the hallway, making their way towards the kitchen.

And with that, silence fell over them once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, but college got me. So, they haven't left for the safehouse just yet. But that will happen in the next chapter. I need to start speeding things up here. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	18. How Cold Have I Become?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant has some time to himself.

Fury managed to get Grant and Skye moved to their designated safehouse a couple of days later. Now, it wasn’t much, but the house would most definitely do until the whole Hydra mess was all said and done. The house was a small cabin in the Tennessee wilderness about twenty or so miles from the nearest town. For Skye, it provided the right amount of quietness for her. The only thing that could be heard from miles around was the call of birds.

And even though Grant didn’t admit it in the past two days that they had been at the cabin, he did actually kind of like the place. He just liked the fact that it was just him and Skye and that there were no other SHIELD agents to bother them. He still didn’t talk to Skye, he just mainly either sat in the cabin in silence or walked around the woods surrounding it. 

Skye was completely worried about him since he still wouldn’t open up to her. They had another therapist that would come to the cabin every couple of days to talk to him, but so far he had only been once to see Grant. Skye just wasn’t sure of how to help him at all. She tried to make him as comfortable as possible, but he never seemed happy with anything that she tried to do. Now she just figured that she would let him do whatever he wanted, as long as it didn’t involve getting himself hurt. 

On the third morning that they were living in the cabin, Grant woke pretty early. For the last few days he had been sleeping in, but today he woke at about four in the morning and found that he could not go back to sleep at all. He slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Skye, and grabbed his clothes off of the dresser. Deciding to take a walk in the still-dark woods, he slipped his clothes and boots on and then quietly headed out the door. 

He liked moments like this when no one else was talking. Even though he still absolutely loved Skye, it was sometimes nice to have moments all to himself. He did appreciate her efforts with trying to take care of him, even he knew that he was deteriorating, he just  thought she did just a little too much sometimes. 

But shouldn’t he appreciate the fact that he had someone that was willing to take care of him when he was losing all desire to take care of himself? Grant felt like he should just end his life before Garrett could find a way to make his death even more painful. He knew that the madman would use his death against the team and Grant would rather go out before that could possibly happen. He thought that that would save the team from unnecessary pain.

But he just couldn’t bring himself to take his life, no matter how much he wanted to. Grant didn’t want to abandon Skye like that. He already felt like he failed her with his revelation, he didn’t want to do it again. He didn’t want to break her heart again.

Grant sighed and breathed in a gulp of crisp air as his boots crunched down on the leaves covering the ground. He just wanted to know just what he had done to deserve all of this. First his childhood, then Garrett, then the surgery, and now his breakdown. Grant knew that he had killed and hurt a lot of people, but what had he done in his childhood? He didn’t exactly know what was making him suffer like this, but he just wanted it to stop. He didn’t think that he deserved all of this. 

A crunch sounded behind him and Grant turned to faintly see a deer a few feet away from him. Even though it was still dark, he could see a good bit thanks to his enhanced vision. He watched as it looked up and studied him, as though it was trying to figure out why a human being was out in the woods this early in the morning.

_ “I guess you can say that I’m kind of like that deer. It doesn’t know what’s coming next at all. For all it knows, there could be a hunter after it now. That its life is about to end. _ ” Grant thought as the deer walked back into the cover of the woods.  _ “I’m the prey and Garrett’s the hunter. I don’t know where he is, I just know that he’ll come eventually. He’ll get me soon, and I’ll just end up like a skinned deer in the end.” _

He sighed and continued aimlessly around the wood. He really wasn’t sure to where he was going, he just knew that he would eventually end up back at the cabin. Skye normally got up at about six, thanks to the past few months of training with Grant, so he had about a little under two hours to get back to the cabin. 

Grant wondered just how much time he had left with Skye. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Garrett caught up to him and made him pay for his betrayal. No matter what Fury tried to do in order to keep Garrett away from Grant, none of it would ever work. Garrett always found a way to get what he wanted.

And it didn’t matter that Grant was a cybernetic super soldier, Garrett would still manage to get the upperhand and kill him. Grant knew that there was nothing that he could do to stop the madman. He just had to learn to accept his fate. His time on this Earth was limited and he knew that he was far from immortal. Garrett would come and he would tear Grant apart.

Grant tried to block out these thoughts as he continued to walk. It wasn’t even 4:30 in the morning and he could already feel his mind begin to grow numb, a sign that he was starting to shut down. He knew that he needed to get back to the cabin soon before he wasn’t able to find his way back. 

Turning around to head back towards the cabin, Grant could feel his cybernetics begin to grow heavy. This always happened when he started to shut down, he didn’t know why. Perhaps it had something to do with the connections with his nerves, but he wasn’t quite sure. He just wanted to get back and crawl back into bed for several more hours. He didn’t think that he would start to shut down so early in the morning. That made him know that today was going to be a really bad day for him. He just wanted to sleep it all away now, before it got too bad.

_ “I’m sorry, Skye. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be with you. I don’t want Garrett to come and rip it all apart. I don’t want to go like that, but I don’t want to leave you all alone. I just don’t know what to do anymore. That’s what’s killing me.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that I need to start making these chapters longer, especially since I'm not updating as often as I was, but it's really hard to. I'm kind of losing motivation for all my current fics and I'm not sure of what to do about them. But please try to leave comment or a kudos.


	19. It's All in Vain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant finally talks.

(The Next Morning)  
Skye sighed as she rose from the bed, turning to look at Grant. She frowned as she found him fully clothed as he was still sleeping. She remembered him going to sleep last night in nothing but a pair of boxers, so he must have had gotten up sometime during the night and had gotten dressed. But it really wasn’t a surprise that he had gotten back in the bed. Ever since his mental state had started to decline, he tended to sleep a good bit.

She quietly left the bedroom, deciding to let Grant have his sleep. He tended to act a little better when he had more sleep, so it was best that he got all he could get. She went into the kitchen and started up a little breakfast. She figured that Grant wouldn’t want to eat all that much, but he needed at least a little something so he could take his meds. Honestly, she just really hoped that he would talk some today, she was tired of living in silence.

But she understood his silence though. Even his therapist had said that there was a psychological reason to it. He had called his selective mutism or something. Grant was so afraid and so deep down in his fear and paranoia that it left him unable to talk. There was no real physiological reason behind it, just the fact that his mind was extremely sick.  
Breakfast was made fairly quickly and Skye ate her share, putting away what was meant for Grant in the fridge. She didn’t know when he would wake up, but she knew that she probably had a good while until then. That left her some time to do a few things to herself without having to worry about tending to Grant. She kind of hated the fact that she was practically Grant’s caretaker right now, but there truly was no one else willing or able to do it. And she was also the only would that Grant would allow around him other than the therapist.

She really hoped that once Garrett was long gone, Grant would truly start to get better. The fear that Grant was currently living in was only dragging him down and wasn’t letting him get any better. Grant had to know that he was safe from harm to allow himself to begin to heal. But Grant feared that a horrible death could come at any moment. He knew that it wouldn’t take much for Garrett to find him.

Skye knew that Grant would rather take his own life than suffer at the hands of Garrett again. The madman would make it to where Grant would die a horrible and painful death all because he did what was right in the end. And Skye had only met Garrett once, but she even disliked him from the get-go. There was just this nasty air that surrounded him and it had settled deep into Skye’s bones. She just couldn’t believe that that feeling had been right all along and that Garrett was some kind of psychopath. A psychopath that had taken a young and broken boy and had molded him into the perfect weapon.

But what would’ve happened if Grant had never realized just how evil Garrett was? What would’ve happened if Grant had continued on Hydra’s path and still followed what Garrett said? Skye shivered at the thought. That would mean that Garrett would have a highly-advanced cyborg under his control. And there was still no telling to what Grant was truly capable of now because he had never been able to show what his cybernetics would allow him to do. Skye figured that it would be horrifying at the least. Grant had been scary in combat when he had been fully human. She hated to see what that would be like now, if he ever had the chance to do so again. But Grant would probably never fight again with the route he was going down.

Skye went to quickly check her email, mainly to see if Coulson had sent her any updates. Fury didn’t want anyone calling them in case Hydra was watching the phone lines. An email could be sent through an encrypted network and could be quickly covered up and deleted. She found that there was nothing from Coulson or Fury in her inbox and she then shut off the computer just as she heard footsteps approaching from behind her.  
She turned around just in time to have Grant wrap his cold, metallic arms around her and draw her close his chest. She smiled and leaned head back to kiss him on the chin, “Good morning.” she said lightly. “You feeling okay?”

Grant shrugged, “I’ve been better.” he replied, his voice a little horse.

Skye blinked in surprise and looked back up to him, “You actually talked.” she commented. “You haven’t said a word in days.”

“I figured that it’s probably not good to remain silent in this case.” he began. “And, honestly, I didn’t talk because whatever shit the therapist tried to come up with. I just never knew what to say to you after all that happened. I was afraid of what you would say back.”

“Grant, sweetheart, I’m not mad at you or anything. I’m trying to help you here. I would not of had said anything bad to you at all. I understand that you didn’t know what to say, but remaining silent isn’t going to help you in anyway at all.”

He pulled her closer again, “I know and I’m sorry.” he muttered. “I really am. Sorry that I scared you like that.”

“Grant, you have nothing to be sorry for. You can’t help anything that has happened to you at all.” Skye continued, leading him to the kitchen so that he can eat. “If anything, blame your family and Garrett. They’re the bad guys here. And we’ve got to deal with Garrett first, right?”

“You know that I’m afraid that he’ll show himself at any moment and kill us both. I don’t care about dying, but I don’t want you to be killed. I don’t even want him laying a single finger on you. I’ll kill him if I have to.”

“You don’t need to be putting yourself in harm’s way like that, Grant. You may be half-robot now, but that doesn’t mean that you’re indestructible. You’re still fairly human. You still bleed when you get hurt. I don’t want you getting yourself killed all because you want Garrett dead. I think that it’s SHIELD’s job to get rid of Garrett.”

Grant sighed as he sat down at the table, “Yeah, but SHIELD didn’t even see that Hydra had been underneath their noses this whole time, so I don’t have a lot of faith in them. Coulson? I know that he’ll try his damnest to kill Garrett, but it’s not going to be enough. Nothing’s going to be enough.” he protested.

“Grant, you’ve got to have a little faith here.” Skye began. “I,”

“Maybe I’ve lost all faith long ago!” Grant snapped, standing to his feet. “I lost all faith the moment my parents left me in that jail. I haven’t had faith for fifteen years now. So of fucking course I find it hard to believe certain things. Of course I don’t believe that Garrett can be stopped so easily. He’s the damned devil for God’s sakes.”

Skye frowned as the blue cybernetic light in his eyes briefly shone bright red as his anger flared. “Grant, just calm down. This isn’t going to help you at all.” she urged. “Just take a deep breath and sit down. You need to eat anyways and take your meds.”

“All of this is in vain, Skye. What are you going to do when Garrett comes to slaughter us? Huh? You can’t talk him out of it. Medicine isn’t going to help then. Nothing’s going to help because that crazy son of a bitch is going to kill us!”

“Grant,”

Grant took a deep breath and sat back down. He looked up at Skye and shook his head, laughing slightly to her distaste.

“Nothing’s going to help. We’re going to die and no one can stop it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you have that and Grant has no hope at all. He believes that it's only a matter of time before they die. But when will Garrett actually come? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	20. The Devil Resides in Human Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant has a talk with Fury.

(A Few Days Later)

“I don’t understand. How are you not able to find him anywhere at all? I’ve given you every possible location to where he could be and you can’t find him anywhere?!”

Skye looked up and frowned as the sound of Grant’s anger-laced voice floated into the living room. He had been on the phone with Fury for the past little while. Fury had actually called to talk to Skye, but Grant had snatched the phone out of her hand and then had stormed out of the room with it. That had been much to Skye’s surprise, mainly because Grant had shown no desire to ever deal with SHIELD again. But his anger had been rising for the past few days.

“I don’t want to be in the dark here, Director.” Skye heard Grant growl. “I thought that you could find him and bring him in. SHIELD is supposed to be keeping him away from me and Skye! Look, I’m not going to calm down until that son of a bitch is dead and burning in hell! Fury, I,” There was a brief pause before Grant’s shouting resumed, “Fucking bastard hung up on me!”

Skye held her breath as Grant came storming back into the living room, phone clenched tightly in his right hand. She raised an eyebrow and tried to be soft-spoken with him, “Your little talk didn’t go as planned?” she asked.

Grant’s face contorted in anger, “Of fucking course it didn’t.” he spat, crushing the phone in his hand and throwing the remains to the ground, “Fury says that they can’t find Garrett anywhere. Hell, I gave them the location of all of the hideouts that Garrett and I used when we had to use them. And SHIELD still can’t find him anywhere.”

“Grant, they’re dealing with a whole lot right now.” Skye began lightly. “I think they’re a little overrun with things. SHIELD’s trying their best, but there’s only so much they can do. Trying to find every single Hydra agent within their ranks isn’t going to be an easy task.

And, this is Garrett we’re talking about. The way you make him sound, it seems like he’s not going to make it easy to find him. If he knows that you were the one responsible, then he’ll probably hide somewhere where even you wouldn’t be able to find him.” she continued. “You’ve got to calm down and let SHIELD do their thing. They’re not as incompetent as you think they are, sweetheart.”

A faint whir sounded as Grant ran his hands through his hair in exasperation, “Look, Skye, I just don’t like the fact that we’re out in the middle of damn nowhere like sitting ducks.” he began. “My therapist has already concluded that I wouldn’t be able to fend for myself in battle for a long time. The first time Garrett shows his face, I freeze up and lose it. I know that sending us out here was to try and protect us, but we wouldn’t be able to fight against Garrett when he does come. And SHIELD’s taking forever to find him.”

“Grant, I know that there’s not much that we can do in this situation.” Skye said in agreement, motioning for him to come over and sit down next to her. “I’m trying my best to make sure that we’re completely off the radar. I have it to where only Fury, Hill, and Coulson are the only ones that know where we are at. We’re not in any SHIELD database. If we’re not electronically logged, then Garrett will have an even harder time trying to find us. This cabin is out in the middle of freaking nowhere, you wouldn’t be able to find it without a set of coordinates. I think that we may be covered for a while.”

Grant sighed and sat down on the couch right next to Skye. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her and drew her close to his body, “Yeah, that may provide us some cover for a while. But Garrett always finds a way to get what he wants. And if that’s my head, he’ll get it sooner or later. There’s no doubt about it. I want to be able to protect us both when he does come. But what’s the use of a gun or all these fancy cybernetics if I can’t work up the courage to use them?” He looked straight into Skye’s eyes, “I don’t think I’ll be able to protect you. I’m not the brave agent that everyone thinks I am. To be honest, I’m just a damn coward.”

Skye’s face fell and she took one of Grant’s hands in her own, “Grant, sweetheart, you are not a coward.” she responded. “In fact, you’re the bravest person I know. Just because you’re afraid to face a monster doesn’t mean you’re a coward, it just means that you’re human. No one can be completely fearless, unless you do happen to be a total robot. But you’re not. These past couple of weeks have proven that you’re just human. You’re just a human with a few different parts. Of course you’re going to be afraid in a situation like this.”

“Yeah, but what if that fear gets someone killed?”

“No one’s going to die, Grant. I’ll tell you that. Garrett will not get to you or me.” Skye tried to reassure him. “We’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“One-hundred percent.”

 

* * *

 

(Elsewhere)

“I cannot fucking believe that my own boy outed us all!” Garrett spat, flinging the nearest object into the opposing wall. “You’d think after all that I did for him he would be forever loyal to me and only me!”

“Sir, you don’t think that it has anything to do with those cybernetics of his? Maybe it’s possible that SHIELD was able to establish some kind of programming and was able to control him.”

Garrett frowned and glared at the young Hydra agent in front of him, “Shut it, Kaminsky.” he growled. “I don’t think SHIELD would do that. I know exactly why he did it. It was because I threatened that little girlfriend of his.”

Kaminsky raised an eyebrow, “He outed the entirety of Hydra all because of a girl?” he asked. “Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of threat did you make?”

“I told him to break it off or I would kill every single member of that damn team of his.” Garrett replied, turning to face the window next to him. “He was distracted from his mission. I don’t care that he was in rehab from that surgery of his, he didn’t need to get himself distracted with a girl. I don’t have the time for that. I need to find out how Coulson was brought back to life. I’ll be dead sooner or later and I need that information. Now Grant ruined it all just because he wanted to protect that bitch.”

“Then what are you going to do now?”

“Of course I’m going to find him and show him what happens when he disobeys a direct order.” Garrett answered. “SHIELD’s currently got him off the grid to try and protect him, but I have men working on pinpointing a location. Once I find him, I’ll beat some damn sense into him, maybe rip those prosthetics from their sockets somehow, and then maybe kill that girl right in front of him. Grant knows not to disobey one of my orders, so his punishment will be pretty extreme.”

“Is all that really necessary, sir?”

“Of course it is. I want him to pay and grovel at my feet like the cowardly piece of shit he is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So finally a peek at what Garrett plans to do to Grant once he finds him. None of it is good at all. Let's just hope that SHIELD can catch Garrett before it's too late. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	21. Like Clockwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant and Skye have some down time.

(Two Days Later)

Grant gently held Skye in his arms as they sat on the couch together in the living room. He drew light circles on her arm, causing her to smile in pleasure. They hadn’t talked much since Grant’s little tirade against Fury the other day, only because he had decided to hole himself up in their room and not come out.

He seemed a little better today, he was just overly clingy with Skye. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight no matter what and tried his best to be at her side at all times. Skye thought that it was a little excessive, but she had figured that he was only doing this because he was worried that Garrett would show up at any moment and he wanted to be right there to protect her.

Skye knew that Grant would give his life in order to save her. As long as she and the others were safe, he would be happy. Now, he honestly didn’t care what happened to himself, he just wanted Garrett dead and gone. And he would do whatever it took in order to get rid of the madman.

Skye sighed and buried herself more into Grant’s frame, which was easy to do since he was so much bigger than she was. Grant responded by moving his arms so she wasn’t pressing up against metal as much. It was hard to avoid metal near Grant’s chest or upper back since the metal cybernetics had bases that were integrated into most of his shoulders. Skye had to always try hard to find a comfortable spot against his chest so she wasn’t pressing into metal.

The two sat in silence for a good while with Grant occasionally kissing her cheek or threading a hand through her hair. And it was Grant that ended up breaking the silence.

“You know,” he began, causing Skye to try and look up at him. “Garrett’s actually not that much different than I am.”

“What?”

“I mean, he’s actually got a mechanical implant in his side.” he clarified, trying not to confuse her. “I did say he’s dying.”

“What’s the implant do?” Skye asked, sitting up and getting to where she could properly see him.

“It’s more of a life support device. I’m not quite sure of what it actually does, but it replaces most of his left side with mechanical parts to try to keep him alive.” Grant pointed to his own side to help address his point. “But it’s failing, that’s why he’s dying. That’s why he wanted to find out how Coulson came back to life. He wanted it for himself.”

“Bastard’s afraid to die, isn’t he?”

Grant nodded numbly, “Yeah, he is. You know, if he had of died in that incident, I wouldn’t be in any of this mess. He would not have been able to get to me and he wouldn’t of had been able to use me.”

Skye raised an eyebrow, “But you probably would still be in jail.” she stated. “And you wouldn’t be here.”

“That’s the point. All of the things I did for Garrett, I would’ve never done them. There would be people still alive today. Hell, my mental state would be better and I wouldn’t be practically a robot with human skin. I’d still be human.” he said sadly, each of his words dripping with self-hate. “Everything would be so much better.”

“But you would’ve never met me.” Skye commented, taking one of his mechanical hands. “That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”

Grant shrugged, “You’re probably the only good thing that has come out of all of this bullshit. I do care for the others and I want them to survive, but I honestly don’t feel all that close to them. I know that they’re scared of me. They’re afraid that I’ll turn evil at the last second and kill everyone, but I’m not capable of that.”

“I don’t think that being evil is even in your programming.”

“I may have mechanical parts, but I don’t have programming, Skye.” Grant stated, giving her a small smile.

“I’ll make every robot joke I can make. I still can’t believe that you being the T-1000 ended up becoming true.” Skye quipped, poking his chest. “You’re the damned Terminator.”

“I don’t have a robotic frame. My muscles, my bones, and my smaller organs are still human. It’s just my heart, brain, and lungs that have cybernetics helping them run. Don’t I practically have a computer processor in my brain or something?”

“Hell if I know.” Skye stated, reaching up and brushing a lock of hair off of Grant’s forehead. “But a fair part of you is still organic material, so you’re _still_ human. Robotic augmentations or not, you’re still a human being. You’re not some kind of monster. The real monster here is Garrett.”

“I guess you’re right.” Grant muttered. “I just want to be able to protect you from him. He’ll come sooner or later and I want to be the one to kill him.”

“Can’t you just do something to his implant and kill him that way?” she asked. “That sounds a whole lot less messy than shooting him.”

Grant shrugged, “I’d have to physically open up the implant and cut the wires. I know, I’ve had to reset it a few times for him.” he began. “I would have to have some kind of device that would disable it.”

“Like an EMP or something?”

He shook his head, “An EMP would take out my systems too. It may disable him, but there’s a higher chance of it killing me before it killed him.” he answered. “That would be a last resort if we had one.”

“Then what else could you do?”

“Either emptying a magazine into him or stabbing him straight into his heart.” Grant answered. “But I’m willing to do whatever in order to kill him. Just as long as he’s gone.”

“Just don’t do anything that will get yourself killed, Grant. Please.”

Grant frowned and looked away from Skye’s pleading eyes. He wanted to promise her that he would make it out alive, but he couldn’t he really couldn’t.

_“I can’t promise you anything. I may very well die because of this. I can’t promise anything.”_

* * *

 

(Elsewhere)

“Sir, we found someone that may be able to help you take out Grant Ward.”

Garrett looked up and smiled, seeing Kaminsky near him, “Oh, really? Who did you find?” he asked.

“One of our moles found one of the scientists that worked on Ward. He helped put in most of the major cybernetics in him.” Kaminsky began to explain. “We brought him in, he’s currently in one of the holding cells waiting for you to interrogate him.”

“Oh good.” Garrett chided, starting to walk towards the cells. “I feel like a simple bullet to the head won’t kill Grant. He probably has too many augmentations for that to kill him. There has to be something else.”

“You do have to find him first.”

“I fucking know that. We have a few moles trying to find the location, but it seems that only Fury and Coulson know where he’s at. There also has to be some way to find him as well.” Garrett snapped as he left Kaminsky behind and stalked into the cell holding the cybernetics scientist.

He smiled at the scientist, which wasn’t a pretty sight. “So, I understand you have valuable information on my agent.” he began slowly. “And I would like to have that information.”

“Look, all I did was to help implant all of the cybernetics!” the scientist exclaimed. “I don’t know what you would possibly want!”

“I want to know how to kill him.” Garrett sneered, leaning in close to the rope-bound man.

“He’s…. He may be more resistant to injury, but he’s not invincible. He can only take so much before he dies. You could still kill him with a normal weapon, it just may take a few more bullets to do the job.” he nervously explained. “T-That’s about it. P-Please don’t kill me. I’ll tell you whatever else you want.”

Garrett smiled again, “I won’t do that, I still have another question.” he crooned. “Now that I know that I can still kill him normally, I need to know how to find him.”

“I don’t know where the hell he is.”

“I mean, is there any way that you can find him because of his cybernetic implants?”

The scientist’s face fell, “You want to track him?” he asked. “I think there’s a GPS capability in his cerebral implants. The other cybernetic engineers have the program, I don’t think that it’s activated yet. The Director doesn’t know about that function yet. Some of his augmentations haven’t been activated yet due to the fact that he’s still healing and his body can’t handle the extra stress right now.”

“So if I had some of my men find these engineers, they could activate the program for me and it’ll tell me just where he is?” Garrett questioned, slowly reaching for the gun at his side.

The scientist shrugged, “Sure. That’s what it’s supposed to do. Please, just let me out of here.” he begged.

“No, I can’t let you go.” Garrett whipped out his gun and fired a single shot straight into the scientist’s head. He smiled and turned around as the body slumped over in the chair. “You’ll tell someone about this, and I can’t have that.” He left the cell, leaving the body for someone else to deal with.

_“Perfect. I’ll have a few of my men find those engineers and then I’ll know just where that son of a bitch is. Then I’ll give the drop on him and take his pathetic, little life. I’ll show that he’s not some superhero. He’ll still end up drowning in his own blood. And I’ll kill that bitch of his while I’m at it. No one double-crosses me.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's really starting to get to the nitty gritty here. Probably only a couple of chapters before Garrett gets to Grant and then maybe a few chapters after that and we're done. So not all that much longer. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	22. Pull the Darkness From My Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant's paranoia grows and Garrett finally finds what he wants.

(Two Days Later)

Skye watched with disdain as Grant practically walked circles around the inside of their small safehouse. He was looking in every nook and cranny for something, and Skye didn’t know to what. All she knew was that Grant’s ‘little’ search was just making him look insane at the moment.

“Grant?” she asked cautiously, trying not to disturb him too badly. “What the hell are you doing, sweetheart?”

Grant stopped and looked up, startling Skye with a semi-crazed look in his eyes, “What? Oh, I’m looking for something.” he answered. “Don’t mind me.”

“I don’t understand what could possibly be in this house that you would want.” Skye continued as she walked closer to her boyfriend. “You need to settle down and take a break. You’ve been this way ever since your talk with Fury a few days ago. Garrett’s not going to find us.”

“But he might.” Grant said sternly, opening a closet door and looking inside. “And if he does, we need a way to protect ourselves. Every SHIELD safehouse is supposed to have a weapons supply. We’ll need a gun or two if Garrett comes.”

Skye took a sharp breath, she didn’t recall Fury mentioning any kind of weapons supply. That meant that there probably wasn’t any weapons, other than Grant, on the premises. “Grant, I don’t think that you’re going to find what you’re looking for.” she began, placing a hand on his shoulder. “There’s supposed to be heavily surveillance and security around this place until they catch Garrett, there’s no need for you to have a gun. And besides, you were labeled as suicidal by your therapist, you’re not supposed to have any kind of weapon until you’re cleared.”

Grant turned to face Skye, a sad look shining in his eyes, “Skye, I don’t need a weapon to kill myself. I’m capable of finding some other way to do it if I really wanted to.” He sighed and pushed past her, “I don’t need a bullet in order to take my own life.”

“Grant, you’re clearly worn out right now.” Skye stated, going after him. “You’re not in your right mind at all. I know that you haven’t been sleeping all that well lately and it’s clearly taking a toll on you. You need to get some rest.”

“This isn’t exhaustion, Skye!” Grant snapped, spinning around to face her again. “This is flat-out  _ fear _ ! I want to be prepared when Garrett comes. It’s not a matter of if he comes, it’s a matter of when! I know that it’s going to be soon and you’ve really got to stop being so damn nonchalant about it! Our lives are at stake here and you clearly don’t care!”

“Of course I care, Grant!” Skye yelled back, standing her ground. She hated when Grant got like this, but he honestly couldn’t help it. His mental state had been all over the place since he outed Garrett. And his anger had been at dangerous levels lately. “And I am worried, but I’m not in constant fear about it! At least I have some  _ hope _ !”

Grant’s face fell and he took a step towards Skye, “I’ve never had hope, Skye. My entire life has been a shitshow, so I never hope that things get better. Things never get better for me. I thought that things were going pretty good on the team and then I get turned into an augmented freak. Things always somehow seem to get worse for me no matter what. Now I have Garrett hunting me. I know the next thing will be either your death or mine. That’s the only thing worse at this point.”

Skye bit her lip and honestly didn’t know what to say in response. It seemed as though Grant’s issues were dragging him down, and it was alway hard to pull him back up from that. And it was clear that Grant had accepted the fact that his or her death was inevitable, something that Skye herself refused to believe would happen.

She approached him and ran a gentle hand down the side of his face, “Grant, sometimes you have to act in order to hope. I know that you want to fight if it does happen, you can’t just sit back and do nothing when he comes. I’m not saying that you have to put all your hope and trust on SHIELD alone, but you have to have hope for yourself. I know that that may be a hard thing for you to do, but you at least have to try.” she explained. “You think that death is the only option here, but it’s not. If you fight and you put some hope in yourself, then you’ll win. Hating and doubting yourself is only going to get you killed.”

Grant looked down, trying to avoid Skye’s gaze. Honestly, she was completely right. He wasn’t going to defeat Garrett if he doubted himself. Hell, he was an augmented super soldier, he had the capability of absolutely destroying Garrett. It was just his fear and self-hate that would get him in trouble. Grant was so afraid that he was freeze up and slip into a panic attack at the first sight of Garrett and then the madman would take the opportunity to kill both him and Skye. Grant had to believe in himself in order to win the fight.

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right.” Grant eventually agreed. “I can’t keep being afraid, that’s how we’ll end up dying. Hell, maybe SHIELD will be able to get him before he finds his way here, and that’s honestly the best case scenario. I honestly want that to happen so I don’t have to see him again. But I know him, and he’ll get what he wants. He’ll eventually find me no matter what and I’ll have to fight.”

“You just have to believe that you can win, Grant.” Skye said softly, reaching up to kiss his chin. “If you don’t, you won’t win.”

Grant nodded and drew her close, “You’re right. But I still want a gun. And you need one too, in case you have to defend yourself. I know that you know how to use you, I’m the one that taught you after all. If I can’t find anything here, I’ll contact Fury about sending some kind of weapons drop. If I explain my concern, maybe he’ll listen.” he stated. “I feel more comfortable if I have a gun at my side. Goes to show what kind of person I am.”

“I understand your paranoia, Grant.” Skye stated. “If you need a gun, you need a gun. I’m just saying that you probably could rip Garrett’s head off if you wanted to. That would be a proper way for the bastard to die.”

“Whoa,” Grant frowned and pulled away from her, looking down with a frown. “Didn’t know that you had such a dark mind. SHIELD agents don’t decapitate targets.”

She shrugged, “I’m just saying that he deserves it after all that he’s done to you.” She reached for his hand, “Come on, it’s getting late, you can find those guns tomorrow. You need to sleep.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, I don’t want you passing out from utter exhaustion when the situation gets dire.” Skye told him. “Look, we already ate. Go take a hot shower or maybe I can get the tub going and we can take a hot bath together, unless a bath really isn’t your style.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

Grant blushed and looked down to the floor. He scuffed his boot against the floor, “I, uh…. I-I like the bath idea if that’s what you want.” he stammered. Honestly, he didn’t care about the bath, he just wanted to see her naked. They had only had sex about twice since they got together, so Grant hadn’t seen her naked all that much. 

She gave him a mischievous smirk, “Do you actually want to take a bath or are you horny and just want to see my boobs?” she asked.

Grant’s eyes widened and even more blush rose to his cheeks. He looked down and coughed, “ _ No _ ?” he practically squeaked. “No?”

Skye shook her head, “I knew that boobs were the answer. Come on, we’ll take the bath.” She started dragging him towards the bathroom, “We haven’t spent time like this together in a while anyways. It’ll be nice to unwind before shit hits the fan, right?”

Grant only squeaked again as Skye dragged him into the bathroom. 

* * *

  
  


(Elsewhere)

It really didn’t take long for Garrett to track down some of the engineers that had worked on Grant. He had found them at one of the smaller bases and after disabling the security and storming the base with his own men, he had trapped them in the lab they had been in.

“You’re here about Agent Ward, aren’t you?” one asked after Garrett had cornered them.

Garrett frowned and stared at them, “How the hell did you know?” he spat.

“The Director warned us that you could possibly come after the people that worked on him to try to get info about what he is now.” the one engineer explained, fear seeping into her voice. “He said that you wanted to kill him or something.”

“No, I first want to make him suffer.” Garrett corrected the female engineer. “Then I’ll kill him. I want to teach him a lesson about why he shouldn’t betray his own SO. I’m not looking to kill him through disabling some of his tech, I just want to find him. That’s all.”

“Then I don’t know why you want us then.”

Garrett smiled and held up a finger, “Ah, a little birdie told me that someone installed top-secret GPS tech in his cerebral implants without the Director’s knowledge.” he stated. “And I understand that the cybernetic engineers are supposed to have said program and could activate it for me.”

The engineer’s face fell, “No one’s supposed to know about that. It’s one of his experimental augmentations that Fury isn’t supposed to know about yet. We build a GPS implant that could be placed in SHIELD agents so that they could be tracked in case of emergency.. Hill already didn’t like the idea, so we really didn’t want to ask Fury for permission. But how did you find out?”

“Like I said, a little birdie told me.” Garrett sneered. “Look, I just want you to activate it so I can see where Fury hid the son of a bitch. That’s all. If you do what I say, then I won’t have to kill you. It’s that simple.”

“We won’t do such a thing for you!”the other engineer snapped. “We know that you’re Hydra! We won’t do your bidding or whatnot! We-”

He never got to finish that sentence. Garrett had pulled out his pistol and had shot the man point-blank in the head. The first engineer watched in horror as his body fell to the floor, blood pooling from his head.

Garrett sheathed his gun and turned back to the first engineer, “Now, if you do what I say, you won’t end up like your friend there. All you have to do it activate the implant and tell me where the hell Ward is.”

“Y-Yes, sir.” the engineer stammered. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

“Like I said, do what I want and I won’t kill you. Now, what’s your name?” Garrett asked as the engineer led him to a console.

“R-Raza.” she stammered as she typed in a few commands. 

“Well, nice to meet you, Raza. How long will this take?”

Raza typed in a few more commands and a series of screens popped up on the computer monitor, all detailing differing parts of Grant’s augmentations, “Not long. I just have to remotely activate his implant and wait for it to ping back with his location. A few minutes at the most.”

Garrett smiled again and nodded, “Well, go ahead and do it.” he commanded. “I can’t waste anymore time.”

Raza nodded shakily and typed in the commands for the GPS implant to activate. A map popped up on the screen with an icon indicating that the system was waiting for it to connect with the implant in Grant’s head.

Garrett waited wordlessly as the computer started to receive information after about two minutes. He smiled as it started calculating coordinates and eventually pinged a location on the map. The location seemed to be somewhere in the Tennessee wilderness, pretty much the middle of nowhere. Garrett ordered the engineer to download the coordinates and the GPS software to a device that he had. 

“Look, you got what you wanted, so please leave me alone.” Raza begged after disconnecting the computer from Grant’s systems. “I just want to be able to go home. I-”

A shot rang out and Raza fell dead to the floor. Garrett smiled and stashed his gun away, “I didn’t say that I kept promises, did I? I don’t need to squealing to someone, that’ll get Grant moved and make my job even harder.”

He turned and ordered for his men to follow him. He finally had what he wanted, he finally knew where Grant was. He now could finally get the revenge that he wanted.

“I’m coming for you now, Grant. Now I can finally strip you down to the nuts and bolts that you truly are. Let’s see how you operate when I tear your wires and implants out and leave you in a puddle of your own blood. Let’s see how you are when I kill that little bitch of yours right in front of your helpless eyes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Garrett finally knows where Grant is. That ending was quite a stark difference from the break with Grant and Skye. I had to throw a little humor in there before things got worse. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	23. I'll Kill You Dead!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things finally hit the fan.

(Sometime Later)

Grant looked out the window of the safehouse, practically lost in his own thoughts.  _ “I have no idea when Garrett will come, I just know that he will eventually. We could have weeks or we could have hours, but he’ll come sooner or later. I know that for a fact. Garrett’s too in it for his own good to let me go without a problem. He will want revenge.”  _ He sighed and briefly looked towards Skye, whom of which was fast asleep on the couch,  _ “I don’t care to what happens to me, I just want her to be safe. If I die taking Garrett down and she survives, then all of this will be worth it.” _

He looked down to his hands and studied the gleaming black constructs,  _ “I may be practically superhuman, but that doesn’t mean a damn thing against Garrett. He always finds a way to have the upperhand no matter what. There’s no telling what that insane bastard will do to kill me. I may be stronger than him, but he always manages to find my weakness. _

_ I’m just afraid that I’ll end up fucking all of this up and getting everyone killed. Maybe I should’ve just went with Garrett when I had the chance. Then everyone wouldn’t be in danger of being killed. Yes, I probably saved the entirety of SHIELD, but it doesn’t mean a single thing when the ones that are closest to me are in danger. It would’ve been better to be a coward.” _

Shaking his head, Grant took a sharp breath and decided to head outside into the woods. He figured that it would be good for him to get some fresh air to help clear up his head. His depression had really been weighing down on him lately and the fact that he knew that they were getting closer and closer to doomsday wasn’t helping at all. It was only a matter of time before everything went to hell, and that thought had Grant in a foul mood that just wouldn’t go away.

He tried his best to be absolutely loving and kind to Skye, but most of the time he just wanted to be left alone. Every little thing ticked him off. He knew that he had always had a rage issue, but now it was really a problem. He even snapped at Skye, that’s why he knew that something was wrong. His feelings for Skye should be nothing but love, but he just kept snapping at her. But he couldn’t help that he was suffering so much. He couldn’t help that he was about to face the devil. He just wanted everything to be in peace.

_ “At least everything’s peaceful out here.”  _ Grant thought as he made his way through the trees.  _ “Maybe once all of this is said and done and we’re still alive, Skye and I should find a nice cabin outwhere in the middle of the woods. This place is nice, but I want something that doesn’t happen to be a SHIELD safehouse. I still want to leave SHIELD, if that’s possible. _

_ But I don’t know if Fury would want me to leave with Hydra being a problem. He may be able to root out the problem out of SHIELD and salvage the organization, but he won’t be able to destroy Hydra. There’s too many heads. Cut one head off and two more take its place. Hydra won’t die. And that’s a problem for me. _

_ Once the heads find out that I was the traitor, they’ll send men to kill me. I won’t ever be safe until they’re completely gone. Maybe SHIELD is the best place for me, at least they do seem worried about me and’ll do whatever it takes in order to protect me. And besides, I probably have too much valuable tech in me for them to let me freely roam. Ah well.” _

Grant sighed and stared up at the cloudy sky. He seemed that it was appropriate that the weather matched his mood. Everything just seemed so dreary and down today, like something was wrong. Grant couldn’t figure out to just what it was. 

He sighed and bent down, picking up a small rock and holding it between two fingers. With one quick, fluid motion, he crushed the rock into nothing but a fine powder and setting it to the wind.  _ “Would’ve never been able to do that before the incident. Being augmented has its perks, but I miss being human. I miss being able to feel with my hands. You’d think with how advanced SHIELD’s tech is, they would be able to create something that would allow my arms to have a sense of touch.” _

He dusted his hand off on his pants and turned back towards the house,  _ “I really shouldn’t leave Skye for long, she’ll think that something bad happened if she wakes up and I’m not there.”  _ he thought, beginning to walk back.  _ “I don’t want her to freak out.” _

It didn’t take long for Grant to make it back to the house, mainly because he really hadn’t walked all that far. He just needed a bit of fresh air and he got more than he needed. He just now wanted to be with Skye and try to distract himself. 

But, in all reality, he wasn’t going to get that. 

Grant stopped just outside the house, finding the front door wide open. He hadn’t left the door open, he remembered that. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he sensed that something was wrong, really wrong. He gulped and slowly made his way into the house, finding that Skye wasn’t on the couch anymore.

“Skye?” he called out softly. “Are you in here?”

He knew good and well that Skye hadn’t gone outside. Something wasn’t right here. And he swore that he could sense someone that wasn’t Skye.

A floorboard creaked behind him and he spun around, fists raised in a fighting stance. But he froze,

“ _ Skye? _ ” 

“You know, son, I wouldn’t come any closer if I were you.”

Garrett stood there with a sneer, holding Skye by the arms and had a gun pressed up against her head. Skye’s eyes were wide with fear and she was to afraid to say anything.

“G-Garrett.” Grant stammered, not lowering his fists. “What are you doing here?”

“You know very well why I’m here,  _ boy. _ ” Garrett snarled, tightening his grip around Skye’s wrists. “Did you really think that you could betray me and get away with it? Did you really think that I wouldn’t find you? I thought that I trained you better than that. Or did SHIELD really mess you up that badly? Or do you have a wire or two crossed in that processor of yours?”

“L-Let her go.” Grant stated, ignoring all that Garrett had just said. “She’s not a part of this. This is between you and me. She hasn’t done anything.”

“Oh, no, she is a part of this. She was a part of all this the moment you chose her over me.” Garrett crooned, digging the nose of the gun into Skye’s head. “After everything that I’ve done for you, you go and choose some little bitch over me.”

Grant remained silent, unable to say anything.

“Oh, did I hurt a sore spot with you? I didn’t think that robots had feelings. Or is there something wrong with your programming?”

“Grant, don’t listen to him. He’s just-”

“Shut up!” Garrett screaming, backhanding her across the face and sending her to the ground. 

“Skye!” Grant screamed, launching himself forward and slamming into Garrett. The two men fell to the ground and Grant positioned himself on top of Garrett, pinning him down by the arms. “Don’t touch her! You don’t have the right to touch her in any way!”

“And what are you going to do? Scream at me the entire time?” Garrett mocked from below Grant. “You lack courage. What is your sorry little ass going to do?”

Rage shone in Grant’s eyes and the blue cybernetic light faded into a bright red, “I’m gonna kill you!” he screamed. 

“I’ll kill you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this, but I kind of got enthralled with my other fic. But I'll try to finish this up as fast as I can, 'cause there really isn't all that much left here. But the final fight begins and who will stand victorious? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	24. I'm Not Gonna Die Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight continues.

“You realize, son, those fancy cybernetics aren’t going to help you here. They won’t overcome your weaknesses.”

Grant growled as he struggled to keep Garrett pinned to the ground, feeling the fear start to rise back up in his chest, “I’m not your son.” he spat. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m  _ nobody’s  _ son, so don’t call me that.”

Garrett sneered and lunged up, sending Grant backwards onto his back. He loomed over the super-soldier and pinned him to the ground by his neck, “I can call you whatever the hell I would like to.” he crooned. “Mainly because I’ve lost all respect for you.”

“Did you ever have respect for me?” Grant choked out, feeling Garrett’s grip getting tighter. Why couldn’t he muster the strength to fight back. He should just be able strike and tear the man’s head off, but why couldn’t he do so? Was this his fear holding him back?

“I was just always your tool, wasn’t I?” Grant continued, trying to push back his fear. “You never cared for me, I know that now. You just turned me into something I wasn’t.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Garrett hissed, standing up and throwing Grant to the ground. “I’ve done so much for you! I was the one that pulled you out of juvie, remember?! I trained you and practically gave you the power that you needed! And this is how you repay me?! You turn your back on me for a couple of shitheads and some bitch? And you out me and the entirety of Hydra? What the hell have they done for you?”

“They…. They showed me what kindness truly looks like. And they helped drag me out of hell after I got hurt. They’ve done so much more for me than you ever did.” Grant spat, rising to his feet. He looked briefly towards Skye, hoping that she would find somewhere to hide.

Garrett frowned and he stepped forward, grabbing Grant again by the throat and pulling him close, “And who are the ones that turned you into the metal freak you are now?” he asked lowly. “It wasn’t me. All your metal part mean nothing when you’re trying to survive.”

“And how are you any better than me?” Grant questioned, his gaze falling to Garrett’s side. “We both know that you couldn’t survive a single minute with that metal implant of yours. I couldn’t survive without my augmentations, and I’m beginning to accept that. So what if a fair part of me is robotic? At least I’m still alive. At least I was given another chance to turn things around.”

With one swift motion, Garrett flung Grant to the ground, causing his head to crack against the hardwood. Grant moaned as stars danced around in his vision, he already knew that had given him a concussion. He wasn't invulnerable to everything.

“Grant!” Skye cried out. She went to go towards him, but a nasty glare from Garrett stopped her right in her tracks.

“Don’t even think about it.” he hissed. “If you touch him or get in the way, you’ll end up with a bullet it your head.”

“Skye,” Grant groaned, struggling to get up. “Go, run. This isn’t your fight, it’s mine. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I’m not leaving you!” she exclaimed. “I’m not leaving you alone with this son of a bitch!” She sent a seething glare towards Garrett, “You leave him the fuck alone. You’ve done enough to him.”

“Skye,”

She stepped towards Garrett, not backing down, “You’ve fucked him over for the past sixteen years!” she exclaimed. “You just can’t leave it alone, can you? You just can’t accept the fact that you’ve lost and Hydra will be gone sooner or later.”

Garrett snarled at her, “What gives you the right to talk to me like that?” he asked coldly. “Like he said, this isn’t your fight.”

“Yeah, but I still want to protect him.” Skye continued, not giving up. “It’s not like he’s ever had someone that’s wanted to do so for him. You’re just a coward who refuses the accept the fact that he’s dying. That’s the only reason why you kept Grant close. You just thought he could find you a way to extend your life. I think you’ve overstayed your welcome in this world.”

“Oh, is your little bitch getting cheeky now?” Garrett laughed, watching as Grant pulled himself to his feet. “She’s quite the feisty one.”

“That’s because she knows how to handle herself in a fight. I know because I’m her SO.” Grant snapped, the red light shining in his eyes. “But you don’t talk about her like that. And she’s right, it’s about time you died. You’ve been fleeing from death for way too long. You should’ve died a long time ago.”

The older man sneered, “That’s not your call.”

“Maybe it’s not, but it’s the call I want to make.” Grant growled, flexing his hands. He turned to Skye, “Get out of here, I don’t want you to see this.” he stated softly. “Get help. I’ll deal with him.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Garrett suddenly lunged at Skye and restrained her once again, placing the gun back to her forehead. “One single move and her brain is blasted to pieces. Give up now and maybe, just maybe you two can live.”

“She is not a bargaining chip!” Grant screamed. “She is innocent in all of this! Leave her the hell alone. Just let her go. Do whatever the hell you want to me, but leave her out of this.”

“I’m not doing that. Like I said earlier, she became a part of this the moment you chose her over me. Don’t think that I’ll let her go so easily.” Garrett chided, not letting Skye go. Skye’s eyes were once again wide in fear and she had no clue what to do. 

Grant gulped and nodded at Skye, hoping that she remembered her training about what to do in a situation like this, “Skye, you know what to do.”

Garrett frowned, “Just what the hell,”

He went silent as Skye suddenly grabbed the gun and spun around to disarm him. His eyes widened as she pointed the gun at him. “Well, this is a turn of events.”

“She’s not just a pretty sight, John.” Grant snapped walking up to Skye and taking the gun from her. “Like I said, she knows what to do.” He looked at her, “Go. You have the chance.”

Skye nodded and ran off, leaving the two men alone.

Grant looked back to Garrett, “It’s just you and me now, John. This fight is between us.” he stated coldly, aiming the gun towards him. “And I don’t intend on losing.”

“Funny how you should say that, I don’t intend on losing either.”

“Huh?” 

Everything froze as two shots rang out, a sharp pain lancing through Grant’s abdomen. His eyes widened as he brought his hand to his abdomen and brought it up to see blood glistening on the black metal. He mechanically looked to see Garrett pointing another gun at him, smoke slowly rising from it. 

“I’ve always got to be prepared.” he laughed. “Did you really think that I would just have one gun on me?”

Grant hardly even registered that he had been shot. He flung himself at Garrett and sent him straight to the floor, his blood dripping onto the man as the second gun was sent flying across the floor. He dug the gun he had right into his chest, “I’m not dying.” he slurred, suddenly growing weak. He was losing too much blood too fast. Not even his augmentations would help him now.

“I’m not dying today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'll leave it there for now. The fight will end in the next chapter, it's just a matter of who survives now. And if Skye can call for help in time as well. Keep the comments and kudos coming! (And I will be updating Fire in the Fire tomorrow!)


	25. If You Love Me, Let it Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle comes to an end....

“Funny how things work out in the end. You’re supposed to be the most elite SHIELD agent, that’s how they built you. You’re supposed to be the strongest, but I’m beating you by a long shot.”

Garrett laughed and he shoved Grant’s weak form off of him and towered over him. He leaned down to pick up the gun that had fallen out of Grant’s grip, “Is your programming failing you?” he mocked, watching as the light in Grant’s eyes faded back to their whiskey-brown. “Is there a flaw in your system?”

“I’m not...” Grant trailed off as he struggled to come to his knees. He coughed and blood splattered onto the hardwood. He knew that it wouldn’t be much longer until he would fall unconscious. There was just far too much blood coming out of him. “I’m not a robot. I don’t have programming. My thoughts are my thoughts. I still have flesh and blood.” He pulled himself to his feet and clutched his bleeding gut, “You should see that.”

“How much does it take to kill you?” Garrett sneered, aiming both guns at him. “But I feel like this should be the final nail in your coffin. It should-“ He was cut off as something suddenly flew into his temple and crashed to the ground. Stars danced in his vision as he fell to his knees, both guns clattering to the ground.

Grant turned to see Skye running towards him. His eyes trailed back to Garrett’s fallen form as saw broken shards of what seemed to be a mug laid strewn around him. “You nailed him with a _mug_?” he asked as Skye came up to him.

“Never mind that, you’re bleeding!” Skye exclaimed, reaching for his injured stomach. “I really hoped that those shots were you killing Garrett.”

“Skye, I’ll be fine.” Grant stressed, clutching his stomach even harder as a wave of pain wracked his body. Sweat was starting to bead on his forehead. “Go. Get somewhere safe. I need to finish what I started. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Grant,”

“Skye, please. If you don’t make it out of this, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Go hide. Please. I know that you’re fully capable of putting up a fight, but Garrett is a whole other story. You’re not trained to fight someone like him yet. This is my fight, let me finish it.”

Skye gulped and nodded, still staring at Grant’s wound, “Fine. But I did contact Coulson. They’re sending a team. So it shouldn’t be long. Grant… Please survive.”

Grant’s gaze drifted away from her, “I can’t make any promises. I just can’t. Now, go. Please.”

Tears started to build-up in Skye’s eyes as she ran back off towards the kitchen.

Holding his breath as a fresh wave of pain hit him, Grant started to head towards the fallen guns, but a weight on his ankles made him stop.

“Oh, no you don’t.”

Grant’s eyes widened as he suddenly found himself crashing to the ground. He screamed out in pain as his wounded side hit the floor hard. He turned around to see Garrett with his hands clasped around his ankles.

“Your bitch may have sidelined me for a minute, but I’m still here.”

“Get the fuck off of me!” Grant screamed, jerking his right leg out of Garrett’s grip and slamming his foot back down onto his face. He smiled slightly as he heard an audible crunch sound from Garrett’s nose. Garrett let go of Grant’s other ankle and Grant took that opportunity to lunge at Garrett.

“You made a mistake coming here!” he yelled, swinging a cybernetic fist into Garrett’s stomach, causing the man to double-over in pain. He swung once again and struck Garrett right into his metal prosthesis, causing the metal to bend inward.

Garrett yelped as he felt something tear in the prosthesis. His eyes widened as a wave of agonizing pain struck him, causing him to collapse completely to the ground. Whatever Grant had done, it had caused his only lifeline to begin to fail.

“W-What did you do?” Garrett groaned, blindly reaching for his side as Grant swung at him again. Grant was showing no mercy whatsoever towards him. “What did you do?!”

“I destroyed it.” Grant huffed out, coming to his knees and pulling away from Garrett. He clutched his stomach again, feeling the dark grips of unconsciousness coming into his mind. “You can’t live without it. And it’ll be a hell of a lot slower than me shooting you.” He smiled weakly, “You’re done, you bastard.”

“I’m not… I’m not dying without you going as well.” Garrett feebly dug into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a round device and clutched it in his hand. “You’re going down with me.”

Grant’s eyes widened and he immediately recognized the device. It was an EMP, it would surely cause his systems to fail. And if they did, he would die. They were the only things keeping him alive. He shot forward and wrestled the device from Garrett’s grip, Garrett showing a surprise force of strength. Grant tore the device from his hands just as Garrett shoved him off once more.

Garrett managed to rise above Grant and brought his booted foot straight down onto Grant’s ankle, causing it to break with an audible crack. Grant cried out in pain and tried his best to scoot away from the crazed man. Garrett limped his way over to one of the guns, holding his destroyed prosthesis as he did so.

“Grant?!”

Grant craned his neck to see that Skye was back in the room, probably because she had heard Grant scream, “Skye, what are you doing back in here?!” he demanded. “Get the hell out of here!”

“Wrong place, wrong time.” Garrett huffed, picking the gun up and pointing it straight at her. “You’re the one that fucked up, son. Now, she pays for it.”

Skye’s eyes widened as she realized the predicament she had gotten into. Her mind had went into overdrive when she had heard Grant scream. And now she was the one facing death. “Grant.” She screamed as Garrett fired a shot above her head. She lunged out to try and disarm him again, But Garrett only slammed the butt of the gun into her face and sent her to the ground.

“I…” Grant didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t move. He had no gun. He was completely helpless in this case, and so was Skye. The only thing he had was… His eyes trailed to the EMP and his stomach dropped as he realized what he needed to do. The pulse would absolutely kill Garrett, there was no doubt about it. But at this close of a range, it would more than likely fry Grant’s cybernetics. He’d either be seriously hurt or would die. But, truly, it was worth it if Garrett was dead and Skye survived this mess. He positioned his finger over the activator button.

Skye groaned from the floor and looked over towards him as she held a broken nose. Her stomach dropped, “Grant, what are you doing?” she asked. “What the hell is that?”

Grant’s face fell and he gave her a sad smile, “I’m sorry, Skye. But at least you get to live.”

Garrett’s eyes flung towards Grant, “No! You wouldn’t!” he screamed, aiming his gun at Grant.

“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

The madman went to pull the trigger, but Grant’s fingers were much faster. His thumb slammed down onto the activator and a massive pulse exploded out of the EMP. The sound of the house’s electronics shorting out surrounded them as Grant screamed out as he felt everything in his body seize up. He felt things start to burn as he managed to look to see Garrett fall as well.

Garrett crashed to the ground, clutching his cybernetic, but it was already too late. It completely shorted out and failed. All he could do now was wait for death to take him.

“You son of a bitch…” he slurred. “I saved you… I-“

He fell into unconsciousness as something rammed into his head.

“Now burn in hell, you motherfucker.” Skye spat, towering above the fallen man. She kicked him again for good measure before she ran full speed towards Grant.

Grant couldn’t move his arms, they wouldn’t respond to him. He couldn’t breathe, why did his chest hurt so much? His head hurt. Why couldn’t he just die?

“Grant!” Skye exclaimed, kneeling down next to his seizing body. Her stomach dropped as she saw the blue cybernetic light in his eyes die away. She put a finger against the artery in his neck and realized that his heart wasn’t beating. Whatever he had done had sent him into cardiac arrest. She went to try and resituate him, but a hand on her chest stopped her.

“Don’t.”

She looked down to see Grant smiling weakly at her, “Grant?” she whispered.

“No use. Supposed to die… Systems fried.” His eyes fluttered closed for a second before he looked back at her, “You lived… Now go. Let me go.” His arm fell back to the ground, “SHIELD’ll be here soon. Go.”

“No, Grant, you’re supposed to make it out of here.” Tears started streaming down her face. “You’re not supposed to die. You’re supposed to be invincible.”

“Still human.” he rasped. He coughed and blood spurted up, landing on his chin. “Just let me go.”

“I can’t. You promised that we would both survive.”

“I can’t keep… Promises….” His eyes fluttered shut and his body stopped seizing.

“Grant! You need to stay awake! Grant!”

“Sorry… I love you… Skye….”

His body stilled and he grew quiet.

Tears poured from Skye’s eyes as she cried out, laying her head against Grant’s chest. She didn’t hear the roar of a jet landing nearby, she just continued to cry against Grant’s motionless frame.

“You were supposed to be the survivor, Grant. You can’t, you can’t…” she sobbed. “You weren’t supposed to die!”

She broke down into sobs as a SHIELD strike team burst into the room, but she didn’t notice. Her grief was just far too great.

“Come back!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you can call me evil for leaving it there. But I always love to throw a massive cliffhanger in everything. At least Garrett's dead, but everything else isn't looking too great. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	26. As We Sleep Among the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant's rushed to the hospital....

(A Few Hours Later)

Luckily for Grant, the SHIELD strike team had shown up at just the right time. Any later and he would’ve succumbed to his injuries and his stilled heart. They had managed to get his heart going again and had him stable enough in order to transport him to a SHIELD medical facility.

Skye remembered the image of agents hauling Garrett’s dead body away as she followed Grant’s body out of the door. Garrett was finally dead, but at what cost? Grant was barely hanging onto life as a result of the gruesome battle. His ankle was snapped in half and he had several bullets lodged in his gut. And there was no telling to how many of his implants had been fried by the EMP blast. She hoped that it was nothing too serious and could be fixed. But she worried that it could be either the implants in his heart or the ones in his brain. If those went completely dead, he would die as well.

And as soon as the Quinjet had landed at the medical facility, Grant was carted off into emergency surgery to repair his ankle and pry the bullets from his gut. Skye suspected that the engineers that had worked on him before were there to repair his cybernetics as well. She knew that it would be hours before he was out of surgery.

The medical staff had made her wait out in the waiting area, leaving her all alone in her grief. She was so afraid that Grant would die on that operating table. He had been through so much and he deserved to live. He couldn’t die like this. Even though his death would be considered an honorable death since he would’ve died protecting Skye and the sake of SHIELD, Skye couldn’t bring herself to believing that as an option. Grant needed to live.

It was about thirty minutes later when Coulson and the team, including, Triplett, showed up in the waiting area. Grief and worry had compounded themselves into their eyes as they came over to console her and to ask her what had happened.

“Garrett had an EMP device.” she said after explaining the events leading to that specific point. “Grant managed to wrestle it from him before Garrett made his way to the guns that had fallen on the floor. He threatened to shoot me and I tried to take the gun he had picked up, but he smashed me in the face with it.” She rubbed at the bandages on her nose that med agents had put on just before the team had shown up. “I guess that Grant realized that there was no way out or something. He… He told me that he was sorry and that it was some kind of sacrifice, then he activated the device.

Both he and Garrett went down immediately.” Skye swallowed and wiped at the tears that had built-up in the corners of her eyes. “I kicked Garrett in the head for good measure and ran to Grant. His heart had stopped and he wasn’t breathing. He managed to get a few words out before he fell unconscious.” She looked towards the doors that led towards the surgery area, “And now… And now…” She broke down into tears, “He’s gonna die and we can’t do anything about it!”

Coulson sighed and took the crying agent into his arms, “Look, the doctors are trying their best. I know that.” he tried to reassure her. “Grant’ll be fine.” And, to be honest, he really wasn’t sure of that himself.  “It may take a while, but he’ll be fine.”

 _‘But will he really?’_ Coulson asked himself. _‘There’s no telling to just how much damage that EMP caused. He is half-robot after all, that blast could’ve fried too much of him for him to repair without him dying. We almost lost him once, that can’t happen again.”_ He looked around the room at the team, _“Everyone’s losing hope. It’s been a tough couple of weeks. We’ve been busy rooting out Hydra moles while trying to protect Grant from that monster. And we failed in the end. Garrett still managed to find them and hurt them both. But it could’ve been worse. At least the strike team got there in time. At least Garrett’s dead…”_

Coulson helped Skye back into her chair and asked if she wanted anything. She declined and began to close herself off from the others. Well, no one wanted to talk. May stood in the far corner of the room, watching over everyone as if she was trying to protect them. She had been unable to protect Grant and Skye, and she didn’t want anything else happening to her team.

Fitzsimmons sat on a couch together, leaned on one another. Normally, they were as chatty as possible, but now they were dead quiet. No one was in the mood to talk, and they wouldn’t be until Grant was out of surgery.

Hours crawled by inch by inch. Skye never moved from her spot. Fitzsimmons occasionally got up and left the room, coming back with food and such things for everyone. May left every so often for no reason. Coulson left once to talk with higher-ups about what had happened.

And there was still no word about Grant.

Everyone had begun to accept the fact that Grant wasn’t making it out. It had been far too long for him to make it out okay. Even Skye had begun to accept the fact that Grant wasn’t coming back. That she wouldn’t see his loving smile again nor be in his warm embrace ever again. She hated to face that reality, but as more and more time crept by she began to learn that she would have to sooner or later.

But that reality would never come.

The sound of doors swinging open caused everyone to jerk the heads up and look towards the doors that led towards the operating room. An exhausted-looking doctor came into the room and gave them a small smile. Skye was the first to jump up and run over towards him.

“Grant?!” she demanded. “Is he okay?!”

The doctor smiled again and chuckled lightly, “He’s fine.” he stated, eliciting a sigh of relief from everyone. “He’s asleep in a room. We got his ankle casted and his wounds cleaned and bandaged up. The worst part was his cybernetics, though.”

“Was everything as bad as we thought?” Coulson asked, giving the team a worried look.

The doctor swallowed and shrugged, “It really depends on your definition of ‘bad’. Yes, it was far worse than his injuries, but the engineers were still able to fix them. Some of there were beyond repair and had to be replaced. Some had to be brought back online. His implants were supposed to be impervious to EMP blasts, but the one he went through was at too close of a range. It ended up doing damage. But he should be okay now. He may have mobility and coordination issues until the cybernetics start fully functioning again. The engineers estimate that it would take up to two weeks after he wakes up for the cybernetics to fully reboot.”

“So he’ll live?” May asked, trying to get to the point.

“Yes, he’ll live. He’ll probably just need pain meds and physiotherapy for a while. Nothing more than he already was on for his post-augmentation rehab.” the doctor answered. “And some support. But he’ll be completely fine.”

“Can we go see him?” Simmons asked, looking over to Fitz before looking back to the doctor. “Would that be okay?”

“He’s asleep, but I don’t see how that would be a problem. But it may be best to have only one or two people in there at a time. Three at the most.”

Coulson nodded and looked to Skye, “Well, I know that she wants to see him the most. She saw him go down and thought that he had died.” he stated. “Skye, it’s probably best that you go see him first.”

“A-Are you sure?” Skye asked, wiping at the dried tears on her face. “None of you want to see him?”

“Skye, it’s not like he’s going anywhere. We’ll go see him later. Go see him real quick to settle your nerves and go get some rest. You deserve it.”

“You can follow me if you want.” the doctor stated. “I’ll lead you to where Agent Ward is at.”

Skye nodded and began to follow the doctor as he turned around and walked out a different door. He led her down a twisting hallway before he stopped right outside a closed door that had two guards stationed right outside of it.

She raised an eyebrow and pointed at the guards, “What’s with them?”

“Apparently the Director’s orders.” the doctor answered, opening the door. “He’s afraid that Hydra agents will try to get after Agent Ward. It’s merely for protection.”

He led her inside the room, “Now, here you are. He’s not going to wake anytime soon. Hell, I’ll be surprised if he wakes within the next week. He’s been through a hell of a lot of trauma, his body needs to rest.” he explained. “But, take your time.”

Skye thanked him and immediately rushed over to Grant’s side. Grant looked so small in the hospital bed. He was pale and weak-looking, hooked up to numerous tubes and wires that led to machines that were keeping him alive. She suspected that some of them were helping to run his cybernetics until he was fully awake.

She pulled up a chair and sat down, reaching out to take one of his metallic hands, “So you survived after all, huh?” she whispered. “Guess you’re harder to kill than Garrett thought. I hope you know that I’m alright. You protected me from Garrett and you killed that bastard. Even though I might’ve helped by kicking his nasty-ass head.

He’s gone, Grant. You don’t have to worry about him anymore. You’re free from his terror-filled reign.” she continued, lightly squeezing his hand. “You’re free to do whatever it is you want to do. No matter if that be us going off by ourselves somewhere or you returning to SHIELD. You don’t have to worry about him anymore. You’re safe.”

She bent down and kissed the cold metal of his hand, “I love you, Grant Ward. You’re a hero and you’ve done way more than you realize. You probably single-handedly helped to save SHIELD. There’s no telling to what could’ve happened if Hydra was able to rise up. You’re an honest to God hero and I couldn’t ask for anyone better.

But please, just wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Grant didn't die after all! It's just a matter of when he'll actually wake up! So Garrett is dead and Grant survived and there isn't much left in this story. Maybe just a few chapters. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	27. The Best is Yet to Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant finally wakes.

It took eight days for Grant to wake from unconsciousness. Skye had been asleep in the chair that she had situated right next to Grant’s bed when the sound of violent coughing had awoken her. She snapped to full attention to see Grant locked in a violent coughing fit in the bed, the heart monitor beeping wildly as a result. 

“Grant?!” he exclaimed, jumping to her feet and over to the bed to try and calm him down. She honestly wasn’t sure of what to do, waiting for to coughing to subside on its own was probably the best idea in this case. Biting her lip in worry, she stood aside to give Grant the space he needed. About thirty seconds passed when his fit died down and his eyes flickered over to her, weakness shining in them.

He gave her a weak smile and blindly reached out for her, his arm not really responding as it should. “Skye.” he rasped. “You’re okay.”

She smiled back at him and helped him move over slightly so she could sit next to him. She figured that she didn’t have long to talk to him before doctors came in to check on him. Hell, she was surprised that the wildly beeping monitors hadn’t brought them in here, but it still probably wouldn’t be long. 

“Hey.” Skye took one of Grant’s hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. “How you feeling?”

“Like shit.” Grant croaked, eyes trailing Skye’s body as though he was checking her for injuries. The only mark of an injury was a bandage on her nose. “But I’ve been worse. What h-happened to your nose?” He coughed again, his body trembling.

Skye blinked, “You don’t remember?” she questioned, running her thumb over his metallic knuckles. 

Grant struggled to shake his head. For some reason, his body wouldn’t respond like how he wanted it to. “Barely. I remember Garrett attacking, but not much else.” he answered. He took a shaky and painful breath, “It feels like he beat the shit out of me.”

“Pretty much.” Skye turned and pointed at his casted ankle, “He snapped your ankle in half and he shot you about five times in the gut. And he also broke my nose, but that’s not important here. It’ll heal. He really did a number on you.”

“Then why do I feel so much worse than that?” Grant questioned, an unnatural-sounding clank coming from his arm as he tried to move it. “I can hardly move.”

“You used an EMP to take Garrett out, but it affected you as well. It fried most of your cybernetics and they had to be either fixed or replaced. You’ll have mobility issues until all of your cybernetics fully reboot.” Skye exclaimed. “The engineers said it would be about two weeks.”

Grant nodded slowly, “Garrett’s dead, right?” he asked. “Please tell me that he’s dead.”

Skye smiled, “He is. If your punch to his cybernetic didn’t kill him, the EMP blast surely did.” She paused for a second, “Or my kicks to his head. But he’s dead. Clean-up crews have long dealt with his body.”

“Wait, you kicked him in the head?” Grant questioned, giving Skye a weak smile. 

“Well, I was overly-pissed with him, so that’s the least I could do.” Skye answered with a slight laugh. “He caused so much pain for you, I could’ve done so much more. But he was already dying, so there wasn’t much else for me to do.” She smiled at him, “But at least you’re alive and okay.”

He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling, “Yeah…” he trailed off, not sure of how to feel. He should be glad that Garrett was dead and gone, but there was a part of him that felt empty. Garrett had been the man that had taken care of him for years, even if it wasn’t the best care. That part still felt the madman to be a father figure, and now he didn’t have it. He just felt empty.

“Grant,” Skye began, placing a hand on his thigh. “I know just how much Garrett meant to you, but it’s better this way. Trust me. He can’t hurt you anymore and he’s no longer a threat. The world’s better off without him.” She sighed, “We can finally get that peace you always wanted. And there will be no Garrett lurking around the corner. You’re finally free.”

Grant looked back towards her, sadness in his eyes, “And where do I go from here, Skye?” he asked. “Garrett was my life for fifteen years. SHIELD was never my life, I did everything for Garrett, and now he’s not here.”

Skye sat and thought for a bit, trying to figure out the right thing to say to him. “Grant… Honestly, I’m not sure what the best thing for you is, you’ll have to figure that out yourself. But we can still find somewhere quiet to settle down, if that’s what you still want. SHIELD probably isn’t the best thing for you right now. You need time to heal and recuperate from everything. You need quiet without fearing for your life.”

He nodded slightly, weariness showing in his eyes. It wouldn’t be long before he fell back asleep. “I guess… I guess you’re right. SHIELD isn’t for me anymore. I may be a half-robot super soldier, but that doesn’t mean that I want to live like one.” He took her hand and started playing with it. “I want somewhere nice we can live. Somewhere where I can start a new life that doesn’t involve violence and lies. A nice house in a quiet town. Maybe a dog or two…” He smiled and shook his head, “Just a quiet life, that’s all I want.”

“Well, maybe SHIELD can help us find a place like that. I imagine that they would want to have surveillance on you for a while, just to make sure that Hydra doesn’t try to get at you for outing them.” Skye smiled, “But you deserve a quiet life for once.”

“I just hope that Fury will let me go.” Grant stated, settling back down into his pillows. “I don’t want to fight anymore. I’ve had enough of that.” His eyes started to grow heavy, exhaustion starting to pull him down into sleep. “I just wanna live a quiet life with you. Maybe we could eventually get married.” His words grew heavy with sleep, “Maybe a kid… I dunno…”

Skye blushed at the thought and ran a hand down his thigh, “We’ll… We’ll see about that. But you need to rest first.” she stated. “I’ll go get the doctors to check you out.”

“No. Want you to stay.” Grant slurred, his eyes already closed. “Don’t want you to leave.”

“Grant, I promise that I’ll be here when you wake up. You don’t have to worry about me going anywhere.” Skye stood to her feet and looked at him, “I’ll be back in a minute, there should be a doctor nearby. I still don’t see why they haven’t come in yet.”

Grant didn’t respond. 

“Huh, you fall asleep really fast. Must be the stuff in your IV.” Skye walked closed to him and leaned down, brushing the bangs off of his forehead and giving him a soft kiss. “I promise that I’ll be back soon enough.

I won’t ever leave you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such the short chapter, but I honestly wasn't sure of what to write here. But I think I did it justice though. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	28. And You're My Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant progresses in his healing.

Grant was released from the SHIELD medical center and was transported to a nearby base about five days later. He was on heavy rest orders and was to be confined to a wheelchair until his ankle healed, which would only be for about a week. Overall, Grant didn’t like any of it one bit.

The man was far too hyper to be either confined to a bed or a wheelchair for a week, and he had already been bedbound for five days already. He just wanted to get up and stretch his legs for once. But since his ankle was still healing, that was a no go. Despite his heightened healing factor, it would still take another week for it to heal since it had been completely broken in half. 

And his arms still weren’t working like they were supposed to. All of his cybernetics were still working to reboot themselves after the blast, so mobility was extremely hard for him. He had to have help with every little thing he needed, even things like eating. But at least he had an entire team standing behind him. 

If anything, the whole Garrett incident had made them respect him more. The reveal hadn’t made them hate him one bit, they had just felt sorry for everything that he had been through. They didn’t think that it was possible for one man to live through so much abuse and hatred. Now, they just wanted to protect him and give him the best care possible now that Garrett had left him handicapped for a while. 

Grant truly thought that all of the help was a little overbearing. He didn’t mind Skye at all, mainly because he was head over heels with her, but he couldn’t stand the others most of the time. Yes, he knew that their actions were full of care, but he really didn’t need Coulson standing over his shoulder 24/7 asking him if he needed anything. Grant knew that he should appreciate the help, but he knew that Skye was all the help he needed. And he even thought her help was a little much.

“Skye,”

“Huh?”

Grant gripped the armrests of his wheelchair as Skye took the hallway ramp just a little too fast, “Could you possibly just slow down a little bit?” he asked. “I don’t want to end up in the wall.”

“Oh, sorry.” Skye pulled back on the wheelchair as they got to the bottom of it. “It’s just that you’re so heavy and I think it propels the chair forward when we’re going down a ramp.”

Grant rolled his eyes, despite the fact that Skye couldn’t see him do so, “You know, I can wheel myself around, my arms aren’t that useless. I just don’t have the fine motor movements in my hands just yet.” he nagged. “You really don’t have to push me around everywhere. I appreciate it, though.”

Skye sighed, “I know that, Grant.” she began, taking him towards the common room of the base. “It’s just that you need to rest and I don’t mind pushing you around.”

“I don’t see how wheeling myself around is overexerting myself at all.” Grant looked down to his hands and frowned, “I’m not  _ that  _ broken. I’m still capable of doing things on my own.”

“Grant, you can’t take a shower by yourself.”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you like to see me naked, so that gives you all the reason to help.”

“Well,” Skye blushed and shook her head, “Okay, that part may be true, but I’m still making a point here. You’ve got to acknowledge that you need help, you just can’t act like you’re too good for that, because you are injured. You can’t get around on your own.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, babe.” Grant stressed, waving his hands in an exasperated motion as Skye wheeled him into the common room. “I  _ know  _ that I need help and support right now, but I don’t need help with  _ everything _ . I’m still capable of doing some things.”

“I know that.” Skye stated, parking Grant’s chair next to the couch and sitting down beside him. At least there were no other agents right now, even the team was busy with Hydra-related things. “I just don’t want you overdoing it, that’s all.”

Grant smiled and looked over to her, “I don’t think that I’ll be overdoing it anytime soon, Skye. I still want to leave SHIELD. The spy life isn’t for me anymore. I still just want to settle down somewhere quiet and try to live a somewhat normal life.” He reached out for Skye’s hand and tried his best to completely close his fingers around hers, “And I still want to do that with you.”

Skye blushed and smiled back at him, “And I promise that we’ll get that, it just may take some time. I still don’t know what Fury will want to do with you because of all  of the Hydra crap going on. He’s probably afraid that they’ll try to get their hands on you and try to take the technology that’s inside of you. If anything, he’ll still want you to be watched for a while.”

“Then couldn’t he just find us a nice little house somewhere and have SHIELD monitor it?” he questioned. “I just want to get away from all of this. SHIELD’s not my life, it never has been.”

“Maybe I can try to talk to Fury later and try to work out some kind of deal.” Skye sighed and ran a thumb over Grant’s metallic palm. “I do want a quiet life, too. A nice little house somewhere outside a small town. A big yard, I’ve always wanted to try to grow a garden.”

“How about a dog?”

Skye looked Grant in the eyes and raised an eyebrow, “A dog?”

He shrugged, “I’ve always wanted another dog. I had a Labrador that Garrett gave me for about five years, but Garrett killed him. And I’ve been too busy for the past eleven years to even think about having another dog.”

She blinked, “Well, I guess we could have a dog. As long as you’re the one that takes care of it. I’m not picking its shit up all the time.”

“Don’t worry, I’d take good care of a dog. I’d like to have another big dog like Buddy. Maybe another Lab, or maybe a German shepherd. I don’t know. Something that would be a good friend.” Grant explained. “And something that Garrett won’t take away from me.” His face fell and he looked away.

“Grant, Garrett’s gone.” Skye really wasn’t sure of how to comfort him right now without pulling at his scars. “He’s not going to bother you anymore.”

“I know that. It’s just… It’s just that…” He trailed off and didn’t finish. He grew quiet and turned away from Skye.

Skye frowned and reached out to place a caring hand on Grant’s shoulder. The man’s mental state was far from good, so he was still prone to slipping into depressed states. And he still had a hard time processing all that Garrett had done to him over the past sixteen years. Truly, he just wanted to forget all of it and move on, but he found it hard to do so in the end.

“Look, we’re safe now. That’s all that matters. I know that Hydra’s still out there, but they’re nowhere as big a threat as Garrett was.” she tried to reassure him. “We’ll be fine. We’ll be able to settle down and live a normal life. Maybe in a year or so, when you’re better, we can think about having a family. Imagine having a little girl. Or a little boy that looks like you.” She smiled and ran a hand down his cheek, “ We can both finally have somewhere where we can be happy. I know that the team is amazing and all, but SHIELD’s not the place for us.”

Grant looked back to her and a light blush covered his freckled cheeks as he smiled slightly, “Hopefully things will be okay for me since I’m not exactly  _ normal _ . I hope I’ll be able to live a normal life being half-robot and all. I imagine that there will be at least somebody who will belittle me for my arms.”

“Honestly, I think a man with metal arms are the least of anybody’s worries, Grant. I think that you’ll be fine.”

“I hope that you’re right. I’m just tired of suffering, Skye. I’d really like to be happy for at least once.”

“We’re out of the woods, Grant. I think you can finally be happy now.”

Grant sighed and nodded slightly, “Hopefully I can. I just want a peaceful life with you, Skye. I don’t want to be SHIELD’s super soldier or anything of the like. I just want to be Grant.” he stated. “Whoever that may be. I’m not even sure of that myself right now.”

“Well, I think that whoever Grant may be is an absolutely amazing person.” Skye stated with a small smile. “He’s sweet and kind. And he has a big heart. Oh, did I mention that he’s  _ amazing  _ in bed?”

A heavy blush grew on Grant’s cheeks and he ducked his head, “Well, when you put it that way…” he trailed off and shook his head. “Anyways, I just want to be Grant. I don’t want to be anyone’s soldier.”

“Well, Just Grant, maybe we can start on a normal life soon. I promise that I’ll work on that.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, I know that I haven't shown much team interaction lately, but I'll try to have a big team chapter next time. But this fic is really winding down, maybe three more chapters at the most. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	29. Just Can't Say Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant and Skye announce their decision.

(A Few Days Later)

Grant mumbled a few curses under his breath as he limped into the base’s conference room alongside Skye. Even though his ankle had healed enough for him to walk on it, it still hurt to do so. Skye had insisted that he still use his wheelchair, but he had refused. He just wanted to get rid of the damn thing. 

He sighed and took a seat at the big table within the room, Skye sliding right beside him. “I really hope that everyone will understand to why we’re making this decision.” he stated, looking her in the eyes. “I don’t want them getting mad over the fact that we’re leaving.”

Skye gave him a soft smile and took one of his hands, “I imagine that they’ll be fine with it, Grant. Don’t worry about it so much. They may be upset, but not mad. They know that you’ve been through a lot and you just want a break for once.” She sighed, “We both want a break. We both want a nice, quiet life where we can just be ourselves. The spy life isn’t for the either of us.”

“Well, I’m actually worried most about what Fury will say in response. Today will be first time I’m telling him about this.” Grant continued, looping his arm around Skye’s. “I’m surprised that he came during all of this Hydra shit, but I guess that he’s still concerned with me.”

“Grant, you were the one that outed Garrett and Hydra. I think Fury’s pretty fond of you after that. Of course he’s going to find a way to make time to come talk to you.”

“Yeah, but I’m afraid that he’ll want me to stay because of the threat of Hydra. I think I’m better off somewhere away from SHIELD.” he stated. “I just don’t want him making me stay because of Hydra. I’ve already told him everything that I know. There’s nothing more that they can get out of me.”

Skye shrugged, “I bet the most he’ll want you to do is stay until you’re healed. Which may be for another couple of weeks. Just to ensure that you’re okay.” she explained, playing with his fingers. “That’ll give us plenty of time to find a place to settle down and figure out what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives.”

Grant smiled and turned to kiss her on the cheek, his beard tickling her skin, “I think we have plenty of time to figure that out. I’m only 31 and you’re only…” he squinted his eyes. “Uh, how old are you?”

Skye play-slapped him on the arm, “You’re my boyfriend and you have no idea how old I am?!” she exclaimed. “I’m 25! I’ll be 26 in like two months!”

“Okay, to my defense, it’s been a rough past couple of weeks.” he stated, poking her in the arm. “My mind isn’t like how it should be.”

She glared at him, “You should at least remember my birthday of all things.”

“We haven’t even celebrated your birthday together yet! Cut me some slack! Look, I promise to give you a nice birthday.” He smiled, “July 2nd, right?”

“You do know it!”

“I just forgot the year, okay?” He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her. “I still love you, thought.”

She stuck her tongue back out at him, “Love you too, Robot.”

“Ah, look, they’re arguing again.”

The two looked up to see Trip, followed by the rest of the team, coming into the room. He smiled brightly at them as he sat down a seat over from Grant. Ever since Garrett’s outing, Trip had taken a place in the team. He had served as Grant’s temporary replacement as the team’s specialist. Little did he know, he would have that spot permanently. 

“We’re not always fighting, Trip.” Skye stated mockingly. “And why would we fight anyways?”

“I didn’t say fighting, I said arguing. You two are just like an old married couple. But love isn’t without its arguments.” Trip joked, giving them another smile. He looked around as the rest of the team took their seats, “Why’re we meeting in here anyways? What’s going on?”

“Yeah,” Fitz piped up from across the table. “You’re not revealing  _ another  _ mole organization, are you?”

Grant smiled and shook his head, “No, it’s nothing like that. But I still wanted everyone to be together for this.”

“Skye’s pregnant, isn’t she?”

Skye’s face immediately turned a bright red and she frantically waved her hands out in front of her, “No, I’m not!” she exclaimed. “I’m definitely not pregnant!”

“Then why are we here?” Fitz asked again, crossing his arms as he received a sharp glare from Simmons. “And why want us all in the conference room? Couldn’t you just talk to us in the common room or the Bus?”

“It’s because Fury is coming.” Coulson answered, placing his hands on the table. “Fury wanted to check on Grant anyways and Grant decided that it was best to have everyone together to announce something. Even I don’t know what it is. There’s a reason to why Grant’s a super spy.”

Grant rubbed the back of his head, “I assure you that it’s nothing bad. I just figured that it would be better to have everyone here at one time. Even Fury.” he stated. “But it’s nothing of Hydra’s caliber.”

“You better be telling the truth.” May muttered under her breath.

“I assure you everything will be okay.”

Everyone looked up to see Fury stride into the room, flanked by two other SHIELD agents. The Director walked around the table and took his place at the head seat. “I don’t know what this is about either, but I have a strong feeling about it though.” he stated. “I knew this day was coming for a while now.” He nodded towards Grant.

Coulson raised an eyebrow, “Sir, what do you mean?”

“I believe that it’s best to let Agent Ward explain himself.”

Grant gulped and nodded, knowing that it was better to get directly to the point, “Yeah, it is. I wanted everyone here so I could explain a decision that Skye and I have made within the past few days.” He took a breath, “We’ve decided that we’re going to leave SHIELD.”

The team’s faces dropped, but Fury’s remain stoic. The decision wasn’t quite a surprise, per se, especially with everything that the two had been through in the past while, but it still came as a shock to them. Mainly because it meant that two of their teammates were leaving. 

“I know that it’s kind of a weird decision, considering the timing of things, but it’s really for the best of the both of us.” Grant continued. “I can’t keep up this life anymore. I may be a half-robot super soldier, but that doesn’t mean my mental state can handle it. I just want a chance to be myself and SHIELD’s not the place to do that.”

He took Skye’s hand, “Both of us want a normal life. We want to settle down somewhere and eventually start a family.” He sighed, “We just want peace and quiet for once, and SHIELD isn’t the place for that.”

Fury nodded as the others were speechless, “I see your points, Agent Ward. But do you really think that it’s safe for you to not be in SHIELD right now?” he asked. “We’re a long way from exterminating Hydra and there’s ought to be someone who would love to get at you for what you are. No one knows other than us that it was you that outed them. I kept that a complete secret. But it’s really not a secret that you’re half-robot. Someone would want to use that for their advantage.”

“I know that, sir, but SHIELD really isn’t the best place for the either of us. I can’t handle much more. I’ve already had a mental breakdown, I don’t want to completely lose my mind. That’s why we want to leave. It’s not safe here.”

“He… He does have a point, sir.” Simmons spoke up. “Grant really doesn’t have a great mental state, his therapist can vouch for that. And if he doesn’t want to fight anymore, he doesn’t want to fight. And it’ll be better for his healing processes if he’s somewhere that he deems safe.”

Fury blinked, “Well, that is true.” he stated. He looked back towards Grant, “I’ll have to think this over and if I say yes, I’ll see what we can do to help get you two settled down somewhere. But I already have one condition.”

“And what is that?” Skye asked for Grant, already knowing what the Director would say.

“I want you to remain here until you can at least walk better. The doctors here can help you with that and it’s best that you remain to where they can keep an eye on you.” he answered. “And that’ll probably be for only another week or so.”

“That makes sense.” Grant stated, casting a glance towards Skye. “I can at least do that.”

Fury nodded, “Again, I’ll think it over and I’ll get back to you.” he said, rising to his feet. “Give me to the end of the day.” And with that, he left the room.

“So, you really want to leave?” Coulson asked when Fury had gone. “Both of you?”

Grant nodded, “Yeah, we figured that after everything that’s happened, SHIELD’s not the place for us. You guys are great, but it still doesn’t feel right for some reason. We just want a chance to settle down and figure things out. I’m sorry that we’re kind of dropping this on you, but we weren’t sure of how to tell you.”

“No, no, that’s cool.” Trip stated. “If that’s what you want, that’s what you want. It’ll be sad to see you go, but it’s not our place to stop you from getting what you want.” He smiled at them, “If you're happy, I’m happy.”

Grant smiled back, “Thanks. I really hope that you all understand.”

Fitz smiled, “Don’t worry, we do. It’s your choice, we’re not gonna stop ya’.”

“Same here.” Simmons agreed. 

May nodded, “If that’s what you want, it isn’t our place to hinder you from getting that.” she began. “It’s true, SHIELD is no longer a good place for the either of you. Go. Find that place that’ll make you happy, have that family you want to have. All that matters is that you two are happy.”

A smile filled Skye’s face, “Thanks for understand. We both hate to leave you all like this, but it’s best that we get out while we can before something else bad can happen. 

And believe me, we both just want everything to go right for once.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, there's probably only three chapters left (two main ones and an epilogue). But at least the team understands to why they're leaving. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	30. The Start of Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant and Skye say their goodbyes.

(A Little Over a Week Later)

“Are you sure that this is what you want, Grant? I know that you don’t want to be a SHIELD agent anymore, but we are leaving the team behind.”

Grant looked over to Skye, a slight smile ghosting across his face, “It’s not like they won’t be able to visit us, Skye. We’re going to be living in a house right outside of DC after all and they’re going to be stationed at the Triskellion while they help with the Hydra mess.”  he explained. “They can drop by anytime they like.”

Skye sighed and nodded, “I know, it’s just a little weird that we’re leaving everything behind like this. And I have only been with SHIELD for only a few months. You’ve been with them longer.”

“I’ve never truly been with SHIELD, Skye. Everything I did was to try and please Garrett.” Grant stated, lacing his fingers with hers. “I was just playing a part and that show’s over. I still want to move onto something else now. And that’s a life with you.” He took his hand from hers and stood to his feet, turning around to face her with a smile, “And it’s better now than never. I’ve already got all of our stuff packed, all we have to do is load up the car and head out. Well, after saying out goodbyes first.”

“This house is supposed to be furnished, right?”

Grant nodded, “Fury said that it had everything we needed and that SHIELD would take care of all of the expenses.” he answered. “So we don’t have to worry about paying for bills unless it’s something we buy ourselves.”

“SHIELD took care of everything?”

“Well, considering it _is_ SHIELD housing, then yes. Fury wanted us somewhere where he could have us monitored for a while. He just doesn’t want Hydra trying to get us anytime soon.” Grant went over and picked up a few bags, “Now, I think all of the monitoring is a little excessive, but if it keeps Hydra away from us, then I’m fine with it.”

Skye raised an eyebrow as Grant loaded himself down with all of their bags, “He just wants to make sure that we’re safe, sweetheart.” she stated, going over to him and taking two bags from him. “And it’s Fury of all people, of course he’s going to have eyes everywhere.”

“Better not be in the bedroom.” Grant muttered under his breath, allowing Skye to leave the room first. “I like our private time and I don’t want SHIELD basically having our sex tape.”

Hot blush quickly rose to Skye’s cheeks. She really wished that Grant thought before he spoke. For an ex-agent that was supposed to be incredibly smart, he truly had no filter when it came down to it. And that had gotten even worse ever since his mental breakdown.

“I’m sure that Fury wouldn’t have our bedroom bugged, Grant. I just imagine that there’s surveillance on the house.”

“That better be all.”

Skye rolled her eyes as they walked down the corridor towards the main room, where of which they were supposed to meet the rest of the team for their goodbyes before leaving. She really hoped that there were no tears, only because she wasn’t sure to whether or not she could keep her own tears in.

After a bit of walking, they reached the common room. The rest of the team was already in there as the two sat their bags down by the doorframe. Even Fury showed up, which surprised Skye just a little bit. The two turned to face them, really unsure of what to say to them now that they were leaving.

“So, um,” Skye began, picking at her jeans. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“But is it really?” Coulson asked, stepping forward with a smile on his face. “You’ll just be right outside of DC, so it won’t be hard for us to come and visit. But,” his face fell slightly. “It won’t be the same around here without having you two around.”

Grant scratched at the back of his head, a soft whine coming from his cybernetics, “Yeah,” he began, not sure of what to say. “It’ll be weird not having you all around either but I still think that this is best for the both of us. We really just want a chance to be ourselves and SHIELD’s not the place to do that. We need somewhere calm and quiet. And I know that I’m really tired of all of the violence. I just want to rest for once. Garrett’s dead, so I don’t have to worry about him anymore. Hydra may be a problem, but as long as we’re away from SHIELD, we’ll probably be okay.”

“We’ll make sure to keep any Hydra personnel off of your backs.” Fury spoke up, nodding towards Grant. “So, hopefully, they won’t be a problem to you.”

“What will you do if your cybernetics start to mess up?” Fitz asked. Of course he worried about that. He was absolutely fascinated by Grant’s robotics. “Will you have someone to take care of them?”

Grant gave the engineer a soft smile, “I assure you that I’ll be fine. One of the cybernetics engineers will come by from time to time to perform a routine check-up to make sure that everything’s running smoothly. I’ll have a physical therapist come every couple of days to help me with my PT and a therapist will come by about once a week to help me with the mental aspect of things. I assure you that I’ll be well taken care of. If not,” He looked towards Skye, “Skye will most definitely ensure that I’m being taken care of.”

Simmons bit her lip, “So we can come by whenever we want, right?”

Skye nodded, “Yeah, you’re welcome anytime.” she answered. “Don’t be strangers, we’re still nearby.”

Trip walked up and gave both of them a hug, trying to be careful with Grant’s cybernetics. Some movements still hurt the cyborg, so everyone had to be careful around him. “I’ll miss you two, even if we really didn’t work together all that much.” he began. “Y’all are really amazing people.”

“Thanks, Trip. We’ll miss you too.” Skye stated.

“Well, hopefully we all can work something out soon to come and see you.” Coulson stated, smiling once again at them. “Work’s a little much right now because of Hydra, but we’ll still try something. Give us two weeks at the most. That should give you two enough time to get settled in.

But, really, take care. Enjoy yourselves, you really deserve it.” he continued. He casted a glance towards Grant, “Live the life you’ve always wanted to live, you’ve got no one controlling you or holding you back.”

Grant smiled, “Thanks, Coulson. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

The older agent’s smile grew, “We’ll miss you two.”

May stepped forward and nodded at the two of them, “Don’t get hurt out there.” she stated. “I want to see the two of you in one piece when we’re able to visit.”

Skye wiped at the tears starting to sting in the corners of her eyes, “Thanks guys. Don’t worry we’ll be okay. I think the one thing you need to worry about is Grant trying to adopt too many dogs at one time.” She smiled as Grant glared at her, “He’s already said that he wants a dog or two. Knowing him, he’ll want the whole shelter.”

“Very funny.” Grant grumbled. “I just want one dog right now. Thank you very much.”

She laughed slightly and returned her attention back to the team, “But, really, we’ll miss you all. But this is truly the best option for the both of us. But we won’t lose touch.”

Grant pulled at Skye’s sleeve, “Skye, sweetheart, I think we need to get going. We need to be settled in before it gets too late in the day.” he stated lightly. He looked back towards the team with a small smile, “Bye.”

They all said goodbye in unison, waiving at them as they reclaimed their bags. Fury gave them a curt nod as he walked past them, his way of telling them goodbye. Grant and Skye said goodbye once more before leaving the room and heading towards where their car was at.

But this really wasn’t goodbye. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to see the team again. It would only be a matter of time before the team showed back up. This was only a goodbye directed towards SHIELD, because they wouldn’t be coming back here.

This was the start of their new life. One without fear or suffering. One that was filled with love and hope.

This was truly the start of something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, there's only one more chapter left! And that will be an epilogue set a few years into the future. So that's something to look forward to! And I hope that I did this chapter justice. I meant to write more, but couldn't because my hip is currently killing me. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	31. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five years into the future...

(About Five Years Later)

“Daddy! Daddy!”

Grant groaned as the bed beneath him suddenly shook and a small figure sat on his bare chest, pressing uncomfortably against the bases of his cybernetics. His pried his eyes open and he smiled as he met another pair of bright, brown eyes.

“Hey, buddy.” he said, lifting his son off of his chest and sitting up so the little boy could sit in his lap. “Did Mommy tell you to wake me up?”

The little black-haired boy nodded vehemently, “Yep. It breakfast time.” he stated, laughing as his father placed him to the side.

Grant’s eyes trailed to the foot of the bed and he laughed, “Adian, I think you were followed.” he said, pointing a metallic finger towards the two figures that sat in front of the bed.  “Aren’t they supposed to be eating?”

Adian’s eyes followed his father’s finger and they lit up, “Max! Capt’n!” he exclaimed, shuffling over the bedsheets towards the two dogs. The two German shepherds both let out a loud bark at the three year old’s excitement. Adian screeched in laughter as he received kisses from the both of them.

Smiling to himself, Grant stood to his feet and headed over to the dresser to pick up his t-shirt from the night before. As he slipped it on, a quick glance at the clock on the dresser told him that it was about a quarter to 9 in the morning. He really hadn’t meant to sleep this late, but it was nice to get to sleep in from time to time. Especially since he had to deal with Adian on a daily basis. At least the three year old would be starting preschool soon.

Grant slipped on a pair of sweatpants and headed back to the bed, scooping Adian up in his arms, “Did you eat yet?” he asked, giving his son a quick kiss on the cheek.

The little boy shook his head, “No. Mommy wanted you.” he replied, nuzzling against his father’s chest. “We got pancakes.”

“Oh, really?” Grant smiled as Adian erupted into laughter. “What’s so funny?”

“Your hand is cold!” Adian exclaimed as one of Grant’s hands brushed the skin of his arm.

“Of course they are. It’s early in the morning, they haven’t had time to get warm yet.” Grant gently explained, heading out of the room with Adian in his arms and two shepherds on his heels. “Maybe we’ll go outside after you eat and get ready.”

“Swing?”

“Yeah, you can go on the swing.”

Adian smiled, which lit up the room just like his father’s. The little boy got about just every aspect of him from Grant. So much so that Skye had dubbed him Grant’s ‘Mini-Me’.

“Yay!” Adian exclaimed as Grant brought him into the kitchen, where of which Skye was placing dishes on the table.

Skye looked up and smiled as the two came into the room, “I take it that he succeeded in waking you up?” she asked, looking at her husband.

Grant nodded as he sat Adian down in his chair, “Yeah, a toddler to the chest will do it.” he joked, gently ruffling his hand through Adian’s hair. “Didn’t mean to sleep this late.”

“Grant, it’s not even 9 yet.”

“You know I like to get up early. I wanted to go for a run this morning, but I might do it after dinner tonight when you’re giving Adian his bath.” Grant stated, sitting down in his own chair next to Adian after kissing Skye on the cheek. “I’ll just workout some after we eat.”

“I wanna go outside.” Adian protested. “I wanna swing.”

Skye raised an eyebrow as she placed a plate of pancakes on the table, “I did hear you promise him that you would take him outside to play, Grant. You don’t have to work out every day, you know.”

Grant scoffed, “I like to keep my cybernetics in top working condition, Skye.” he began, reaching for a pancake. “Gotta have a fit body for them to work properly.”

“It’s been five years, Grant. I think you can go one day without a serious workout.” Skye said, placing a cup of coffee in front of her husband. “And you promised Adian. You don’t want to break that promise, do you?”

“No.” Grant grumbled, looking off to the side. “Fine. I’ll work out tomorrow morning before Adian wakes up.” He turned his attention to the little boy, “Adian, how many pancakes do you want?”

The little boy held up one finger, “One!” he exclaimed. “And bacon!”

Grant nodded and placed one pancake on the boy’s plate, followed by two pieces of bacon. He started to pour some syrup on top of the pancake as Skye opened the refrigerator.

“Adian, do you want milk or orange juice?”

“Milk!”

Skye took the jug of milk and poured some in Adian’s empty cup before putting the jug back in the fridge. She sat down and looked over to Grant, “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. Other than the fact that our son jumped on my chest to wake me up, I slept just fine.” Grant chuckled, taking Adian’s plate and beginning to cut the pancake up into small pieces. “Is Coulson and the others still coming over later?”

“As far as I know, just Coulson and May are. I think Fitz and Jemma had some science thing to go to and Trip went with them.” Skye replied, taking a sip of her coffee. “I’ll call Coulson later to make sure.”

Adian lifted his head up, “Papa’s coming?” he asked, a twinkle of light in his eyes. “Nana too?”

Skye smiled, “Yeah, they are. But not until later today, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Did you feed the dogs yet?” Grant asked as he stuffed a piece of pancake into his mouth. “If not, I’ll do it after I finish eating.”

“Ah, don’t worry. I did that when I got up earlier.” Skye answered, looking over to the two dogs, whom of which were both situated beside Adian. They both were hoping that the little boy would drop food.

“They both eat?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. I’ll let them out once we’re done.”

“Oh, I want to run by the store later since I don’t have any work to do today. If Coulson and May are coming later, I’d like something good that we can cook for dinner.” Skye said, munching on a piece of bacon. “We can go after Adian plays outside for a while.”

“Sure, we probably need to pick up some groceries anyway.” Grant answered, placing down his fork. “I,”

He stopped as the sudden sound of giggling sounded from beside him. Both he and Skye exchanged exasperated glances before looking over to Adian. The little boy’s face was completely covered in syrup. Even Max and Captain had sticky globs of syrup on the tops of their heads.

“Adian,” Grant sighed, pushing his plate away and standing to his feet. He looked over to Skye, “You clean up the dogs and I’ll clean him up?”

“Fine.” Skye muttered, standing from the table and calling the two dogs over. “And go ahead and get him into some other clothes. Just clean his face and hands. If he’s going to be playing outside, he can have a bath later.”

“Alright.” Grant turned to face the little boy, “Okay, Adian, let’s go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up. We’ll go outside in a little bit.”

“Okay.” Adian pushed himself out of his chair and followed his father out of the kitchen.

Grant shook his head as he led the little boy towards the bathroom. If someone had of told him when he and Skye had left SHIELD five years ago that he would be cleaning syrup off of a little boy’s face almost on a daily basis, he wouldn’t of had believed them. There had been a part of him that had believed that he and Skye would never have kids because of all of his augmentations.

But it had only taken them a little over a year for Skye to get pregnant, much to Grant’s disbelief. But Grant wouldn’t ask to have it any other way, Adian was perfect in any aspect.

They had gotten married just a little while after Skye had announced that she was pregnant, with a big ceremony and everything. Grant had finally gotten the dogs he had always wanted, Max coming first and Captain coming when Adian had been about one and a half. Adian was born on March 3rd 2016 and that had been the single best day of Grant’s life, aside from his marriage to Skye.

After all of the good that had happened in the past five years, Grant was glad that he had turned his back on Garrett. Even though he had gone through so much suffering because of it, he was still in such a better place now. And he didn’t regret leaving SHIELD one bit. But that was mainly because the team always came around to see them. Even Fury had shown up a few times in the past few years.

Grant smiled to himself as he hoisted Adian up and sat him on the countertop of the bathroom, grabbing for a wet cloth to wash the boy’s face and hands off with. Yeah, he preferred this over the heat of battle any day. But, truly, Adian would probably be their only kid. They had tried for a while to have another kid, but it never happened. Grant truly didn’t care one way or another, Adian was all that he needed.

Honestly, he had everything that he could ever ask for. He had a loving wife and an adorable son. He had two amazing dogs and friends that he would never want to leave behind. He had everything that he thought that he would never have.

He finished cleaning Adian up and went to help the little boy change into his outside clothes. He smiled as the little boy smiled at him as well.

Yeah, he truly had everything now and he didn’t want it any other way.

“Can we go play now?”

“Yeah, we can go play now.”

 

_End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is it! I'm finally done with this! I just had to add a large bit of fluff to round everything out. (And of course Coulson and May are the grandparents in this case.) I really, really hoped that you enjoyed! Please leave a comment or a kudos!

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea that spawned from an AU me and a friend did on Tumblr! I hope that it works!


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